French fishing boats protest in front of the port of Saint Helier off the British island of Jersey to draw attention to what they see as unfair restrictions on their ability to fish in UK waters after Brexit, on Thursday amid fresh tensions between France and Britain over fishing. Photo: AFP

The EU and Britain failed to reach agreement on how to divvy up post-Brexit fish quotas in shared waters from 2022, officials said Tuesday, meaning provisional quotas will apply.

"Unfortunately, and despite our best efforts to conclude in a timely manner, consultations with the UK on fishing opportunities for 2022 are still ongoing," EU fishing commissioner Virginijus Sinkevicius said.

EU fishing ministers had approved quotas from January 1, 2022 in EU waters extending into the Mediterranean, the Atlantic, the North Sea and the Black Sea, he announced.

But Brussels and London still remain apart on how to share fish stocks in areas plied by both EU and British trawlers, reflecting broader EU-UK tensions that have festered since Britain left the bloc nearly two years ago.

"We haven't reached an agreement with the UK. We're remaining optimistic and we do hope it will be possible to reach it by the 20th of December," Slovenian Fishing Minister Joze Podgorsek said.

He said that "provisional quotas" with the UK on shared fishing stocks would remain in force until a new agreement was hammered out.

Sinkevicius said the "contingency proposal" being applied would last for three months on the pro-rata basis of 2021 catch limits, with allowances for seasonal catches.

Podgorsek was speaking on behalf of Slovenia's role as outgoing holder of the EU presidency - a rotating status that from January 1 will be held by France, which has taken a robust position against Britain over fishing and other post-Brexit disputes.

AFP