European fishing quota talks have produced a "strong result" for Scotland's fishermen, the rural economy secretary has said.

A new deal has been struck in Brussels to allow the fleet to catch more of key stocks including cod and haddock.

Fergus Ewing said the European December Council meeting, which sets quota levels for the fishing industry across the European Union, involved "challenging negotiations"

"We have secured a strong result for Scotland's fishermen, with deals worth more than £440m to the industry and crucial increases for many of our key species," he said.

UK fisheries minister George Eustice said the deal will allow for a 10% increase in cod catch in the North Sea, as well as a 23% increase in haddock and a 20% increase in monkfish.

Meanwhile, the amount of whiting fishermen are allowed to land will rise by 38% and there is a 22% increase in the allowance for North Sea lobster.

Ewing said he was "frustrated" the EU had not been able to agree Scottish proposals to allow fishermen on Scotland's west coast to take more cod and Norway lobster.

With the UK due to leave the EU in 2019, Ewing said the prospect of Brexit had "loomed large over this year's negotiations".

Scottish Fishermen's Federation chief executive Bertie Armstrong warned there were signs other countries across Europe were adopting "very entrenched views" ahead of Britain's departure.

Environmentalists have warned many stocks in EU waters are still not being fished at sustainable levels.

Environmental legal charity ClientEarth said despite legal requirements in the EU's Common Fisheries Policy for fishing to be sustainable by 2020 at the latest, catch limits for many stocks were still being set too high.

It criticised catch limits for whiting, sole, herring and plaice in and around the Irish Sea, some of which are stocks that are "dangerously depleted" and where the scientific advice recommends zero catches.

ClientEarth lawyer Flaminia Tacconi said: "The 2018 fishing quotas mean overfishing continues for many stocks, including several vulnerable ones like whiting off the coast of Scotland and Ireland.

"Ministers must be more ambitious to make fishing in EU waters sustainable."