1.  Also, she pledged to study ways of finding emergency funding for Spanish and Portuguese fishermen banned from Moroccan waters.

2.  As negotiations drag on, the EU has been paying compensation to the mostly Spanish and Portuguese boats that used to fish in Moroccan waters.

3.  Last spring, negotiations broke down on a European Union accord that would have granted Spanish fishermen the right to supplement their dwindling catch by fishing in Moroccan waters.

4.  Relations with Morocco, however, have soured lately over fishing rights for EU vessels in Moroccan waters.

5.  Spanish news media said there had been reports of a sinking in Moroccan waters in July but none involving so many people.

6.  The accord allows Spanish and Portuguese fishing boats to return to Moroccan waters after a six-month ban, but it reduces their catch limits.

7.  The continuing stalemate is likely to anger hundreds of Spanish fishermen who normally fish for sardine, tuna and squid in Moroccan waters.

8.  The fishermen involved in the protest were reported to be crew members of some of the large freezer ships that normally fish in Moroccan waters off northwest Africa.

9.  But so far, the two sides have been unable to strike a deal, so EU fishing boats can no longer fish in Moroccan waters.

10.  EU Fisheries Commissioner Emma Bonino said Monday Morocco had rejected its final offer on an agreement to allow mainly Spanish boats to resume fishing in Moroccan waters.