A hard-hitting report highlighting the threat to North Sea animals such as dolphins, harbour porpoises and basking sharks from industrial pollution, overfishing and entanglement in trawler nets has received influential backing.

The Wildlife Trusts today called for tougher legislation and a new Government department for Britain's marine habitats at the parliamentary launch of its report Our Dying Seas?, which highlighted grave problems all round the British coast.

Its call was supported by Dr Sian Pullen, head of marine and coastal policy for the wildlife organisation WWF, which has been campaigning for similar aims.

Dr Pullen said there was a need for a ministry which could ensure that commercial projects affecting the sea were under a single control rather than developed piecemeal.

She said the Government had taken some steps in the right direction but that much more needed to be done.

Dr Pullen added: "We are very much supportive of what the Wildlife Trusts are doing. Some of our commercial fish stocks are on the brink of collapse and populations of dolphin and harbour porpoise are in decline.

"Many shark species are also in decline and even the invertebrates which live on the seabed are being damaged by these activities. Our seabeds are still being trashed."

Industry and commercial fishing organisations say they are working to reduce the environmental damage of their operations.