MADRID (AFP) - Many fishing fleets in Europe remained on strike Sunday over soaring fuel prices, but the first cracks in the movement appeared as some workers in Spain voted to end their walkout.

Strikes were launched in Spain, Portugal and Italy on Friday following three weeks of stoppages and blockades in France.

The rapid rise in the price of oil has pushed up the cost of marine diesel by around 30 percent since the beginning of the year, causing trawler owners to warn they face bankruptcy without increased subsidies.

The Spanish Fisheries Confederation, which represents around 1,400 businesses in Europe's largest national fishing industry, is to meet on Tuesday to decide how its movement should continue, with no negotiations planned with its government.

But the first signs of a break in the ranks appeared when fishermen in Spain's northeastern region of Catalonia, who had been the first to stage a walkout last week, voted late on Saturday to return to work on Monday.

The head of the Catalan fisheries federation, Vicenc Balaguer, said "90 percent of the (Catalan) trawlers want to continue working."

Spanish media said however the decision was opposed by a number of Catalan fishermen, notably those from Barcelona.

In Italy, a meeting was planned for Tuesday or Wednesday between industry representatives and Agriculture Minister Luca Zaia.

If the negotiations fail, some fishermen support a blockade of tourist ports, said Alessandra Fabri, a spokeswoman for Federcoopesca, Italy's main fisheries union.

In Portugal, fishermen clashed with police Saturday in the northern town of Matosinhos, leaving two people injured.

The fishermen had blocked access to warehouses by dozens of fishmongers.

Portugal's President Anibal Cavaco Silva appealed for calm.

"I hope that dialogue will produce positive results in line with the country's higher interests," he said.

In France, most fishing ports were operating Sunday after three weeks of strikes and blockades, and the national fisheries committee, the CNPEM, said it did not expect the movement to pick up again this week.

"We are in a waiting phase. Whatever protests there are next week, they are more likely to take place in Brussels," said CNPEM director Hubert Carre.

"Right now we are working at a European level. Italian, Spanish and Portuguese fishermen are lobbying their own governments to win a consensus among European states for a shift in European Union policy."

Fishermen in the Mediterranean port of Agde however said they were planning "major action" along with Spanish and Italian fleets this week, without giving further details.

In the eastern French city of Strasbourg, some 200 lorry owners were expected to rally on Monday to demand action over fuel costs.

On the French Riviera, lorry drivers also planned a protest on the highway leading to Nice airport on Monday, with similar protests anticipated near Lyon and Dijon in the east.

In Marseille, truckers said they would occupy the Total oil refinery in La Mede, which has been blockaded on and off for the past three weeks.

Some Spanish lorry drivers also plan to launch indefinite strikes from June 6.

The fishermen's protests were further set to spread to Britain, where a demonstration was planned in front of the agriculture ministry in London on Tuesday.