PRINCE Charles helped serve up the fish suppers on board Marine Scotland's new research vessel during a visit to Leith harbour yesterday, where he warned of the "dire social and economic consequences" of failing to manage the world's fish stocks sustainably.

Charles, known as the Duke of Rothesay in Scotland, told delegates at the sixth World Fisheries Congress in Edinburgh that there was a "direct link" between the health of ecosystems and food security.

He said: "If fish stocks fail, then the social and economic consequences will be dire. Just think of all those thousands of coastal communities in Africa and around the world whose livelihoods and futures depend on fish. Where will they go? What will they do?"

Charles went on to warn that even the British tradition of fish and chips could disappear.

"I remember one occasion buying fish and chips from a shop in Inverness," he said. "It never occurred to me then that I was eating food that had such a reliance on how we treat a wild natural resource."

Following his speech at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre, the Prince visited Marine Scotland's research vessel Scotia in Leith harbour where he viewed the state-of-the-art facilities on board and met fish-and-chip fryers and representatives from fish wholesale companies.

Meanwhile, Camilla, the Duchess of Rothesay, attended a service to celebrate the completion of Rosslyn Chapel's £10 million restoration.