European Union ministers have reached a deal to cut many of next year's fish catches for overexploited mainstays, such as cod and hake.
The measures aim to ward off stock collapse but also ensure a livelihood for fishermen.
Cod quotas will mostly be cut by 25% in 2009 from this year's volumes.
However, a recent agreement with non-EU member Norway and signs of a small stock improvement in the North Sea will mean a 30% rise in those shared waters.
The proposal to close whitefish fishing off the northwest coast has not been accepted by the ministers.
However, a quota cut of up to 42% has been put in place for certain whitefish species in the area.
Despite the cuts, the news will be welcome in whitefish ports, such as Greencastle in Co Donegal, where a fishing industry based almost entirely on whitefish, faced closures.
A proposal to scrap the Hague Preferences, a mechanism which increases Irish fish quotas by up to 50% in certain cases, was also not accepted.
Another proposal opposed by Irish fishermen, cutting Irish prawn quotas by 15%, was also scaled back to a 2% cut.
Despite pessimism yesterday from both the Minister for State with Responsibility for Fisheries, Tony Killeen, and the Irish Fishermen's Federation, the total Irish quota saw an increase of 5%, worth an extra €8m at today's prices.
'The Hague Preferences almost doubled Ireland's cod quota in the Celtic Sea and increased the cod quota in the Irish Sea by some 40%', said minister Killeen.
'I cannot emphasise enough the difficulty we faced on a number of fronts in regard to the Hague Preferences and I am both pleased and relieved that we have been successful in our efforts to defend an issue of critical importance for Irish fishermen.'
Scotland won a victory, avoiding a closure of its whitefish fishery on the west coast by agreeing to strict rules on fishing tackle and accepting quota cuts for some species.
'Scientific advice shows that the (cod) recovery plan is beginning to work,' EU Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg said after the deal was reached on the second day of talks.
In western Scotland waters, catches of cod, haddock and whiting have fallen sharply over the last ten years due to overfishing.
Mr Borg (right) had wanted to give those whitefish 'breathing space' to rebuild numbers, by stopping targeted fishing and bringing in new fishing tackle to let them escape from the nets.
In the meantime, fishermen could carry on catching commercially valuable species like prawns and monkfish.
To offset this, there will be quota cuts for cod, herring, haddock and whiting in west Scotland waters that vary between 25% and 42%, Mr Borg said.
Scottish Fisheries Minister Richard Lochhead said: 'The bulk of the west coast fleet will now be able to make a living in 2009, although a number of fishermen face a huge challenge in delivering the agreed conservation measures.'
EU ministers also agreed stricter rules on fishing tackle used by cod trawlers, to try to stop overfished species from being thrown back in the sea and left to die when caught by accident along with other species - known as discards.
'Appropriate observer schemes will be set up to ensure this is carried out,' Mr Borg told a news conference.
Elsewhere, a ban on anchovy fishing in the Bay of Biscay will remain until at least spring 2009 because there have so far been few signs of a recovery in stock numbers. This fishery is of prime importance to France and Spain.
'There are no signs yet that this stock is recovering but we will review the situation in the spring,' Mr Borg said.
Mr Borg won approval for his proposal to phase out fishing for two species of deep-sea shark, spurdog and porbeagle, over the next couple of years, with ministers agreeing to set minimum landing sizes for any landings of these species in the meantime.
Key outcomes of the negotiations include:
A 25% cut in cod quotas in the Irish Sea.
A 23% cut in the total allowable catch for Irish Sea plaice.
A 15% increase in the haddock quota.
No change to the herring quota, which had faced a proposed 8% reduction.
