Jim Portus, of the South West Fish Producers' Organisation, will travel to Brussels alongside his Cornish counterpart Paul Trebilcock, to appeal to Fisheries Minister Huw Irranca-Davies before a crucial meeting today.
They are urging him to demand a delay in the technical conservation regulation, legislation which governs aspects such as the size of some species which fishermen are allowed to land.
Mr Portus said the item was being "rushed through" after being brought ahead from December by the Council of Ministers, because it did not want to have to wait until the effects of the Lisbon Treaty kicked in, which would mean it would also have to be authorised by the European Parliament.
"We feel they're rushing it through. At the moment, it has too many flaws and has been put together without proper consultation. Some of the things are entirely unacceptable to us in the South West."
Among the clauses which could severely affect fishermen is a proposal to bring scallop sizes into line with European standards – a move Mr Portus said would result in fishermen having to throw away catch because it was too small.
"It would mean some fishermen operating from Brixham, Falmouth, and Newlyn would lose around 20 per cent of their economic returns overnight."
The draft also proposes harmonising the mesh sizes of nets, and, for the first time, imposing limits on the number of angler fish caught as a by-product of fishing for other species.
But Mr Portus was hopeful the approval of the draft would be delayed until 2010, to allow for amendments.
Mr Irranca-Davies said he would push for the "best possible deal" for the UK at both November and December councils.
"We've listened to the concerns of the fishing industry across the UK and we'll continue to negotiate on their behalf for improvements in the proposals to alleviate the issues raised to us.
"If we feel the proposals do not meet our expectations then we would be prepared to vote against in the interests of our fishing industry."
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