"If Mr Sarkozy's idea is to soften the system to increase fishing opportunities, that's a scandal," Charles Braine, WWF's fisheries specialist, told AFP.

Faced with complaints about quotas and the high price of diesel, Sarkozy told some 300 fishermen Saturday that he would tackle the issue when his country takes over the European Union's rotating presidency in July.

"At the moment, when all the world is saying the resource (fish) is returning, there must be a more flexible response on quotas, whatever the species and locations where they're being caught," he said.

But Braine said: "It's quite populist" and "doesn't make sense", and he added that the EU should try to put in place a system that better protects fish stocks.

"The fact is, the EU's policy of quotas has failed. It has not passed the test because fish stocks are still low," he said. "Quotas handed out to different countries are systematically over-shot, leading to illegal fishing.

The European Commission adopts fishing quotas for the 27 nation EU in December each year, with the aim of ensuring that stocks can be sustained, based on scientific advice.

The 2008 quotas have been widely condemned by the French fishing industry, not least for demanding a 44 percent cut in the national herring and whiting catches, and 56 percent for mackerel.

Polish fishermen, too, have complained about cuts in quotas for Baltic cod.

The Commission's fisheries spokeswoman, Mireille Thom, said that Brussels welcomes "favourably all contributions to the debate on common fishing policy aimed at improving the management of fisheries in the EU".

She declined to comment further without more specific details about Sarkozy's intentions.

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