21.   The new fisheries accord sets new fishing boundaries and quotas, easing tensions over rights to waters around disputed islets.

22.   The negotiations, expected to begin in a few months, would require the two neighbors to conclude a new fisheries agreement.

23.   Foreign ministry officials here predicted drawn-out negotiations among the three countries to reach new fisheries agreements.

24.   It hopes to conclude a new fishery agreement by the end of this year, they added.

25.   Japan and South Korea agreed Monday to strive for an early conclusion of a new fisheries pact with a territorial dispute over islets standing in the way.

26.   Japanese and Chinese officials agreed Tuesday to put aside a territorial dispute in an effort to agree a new bilateral fisheries treaty, officials said.

27.   Senior officials in charge of foreign and fisheries affairs from the two countries met at the foreign ministry here to discuss the new fisheries treaty.