The marine environment requires drastic and urgent action to save it from further destruction by fishing fleets, says an influential report.

The Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution says the changes needed will be "painful" in the short term.

But going on as we are with piecemeal adjustments will leave the fishing industry with little future, it argues.

The commission wants to see 30% of UK waters become marine reserves closed to commercial fishing.

In its report - Turning The Tide, Addressing The Impact Of Fisheries On The Marine Environment - the RCEP, which advises the government, says society has given far less priority to marine conservation than to protecting the land - something it says needs to change urgently.

Its report focuses on the impacts of fishing in the north-east Atlantic, the area covered by the Ospar Convention on the protection of the region's marine environment.