About 50 dead fish have mysteriously appeared on the beach, sparking speculation over how they died.

Walkers found whiting, dab and dogfish near the BP garage in Seabrook Road, Seabrook, at the weekend.

Some residents believed they could have become beached when the tide turned, while others thought they had been dumped on land or at sea before washing up.

But a veteran commercial fisherman and a nature expert believe they were left by anglers, possibly after a competition.

Owen Leyshon, of the Romney Marsh Countryside Project said: “The fish are whiting, dab and dogfish.

“They have been caught by a beach angler and left on the beach. The fish are not sold at fish shops and so not dumped that way.

“The fish have not been washed in offshore. This happens infrequently at Dungeness and is a sad reflection of a minor part of the angling community.”

A commercial fisherman whose families have fished the waters for generations, echoed Mr Leyshon’s views.

He said that while commercial trawler fishermen are forced to dump carcasses overboard because of EU law, there was “no excuse” for anglers to dump fish in this way.

Fleets are often forced to dump fish they are not allowed to land due to European quotas on the species which can be brought back to shore and sold.

He said: “We have to throw fish overboard when we’re out at sea because we could be fined £50,000 if we didn’t – it’s ridiculous.

“But if a beach angler catches fish there is no reason why they can’t release them.

“To me this looks like a fishing competition has taken place where the anglers has used the fish for a weigh-in but not wanted to take it home.

“There’s not a lot the authorities can do, it’s just down to the responsibility of the anglers.”

Martyn Reid, secretary for the Folkestone Sea Angling Association (FSAA) said: “I don’t know who was responsible for this but we urge people to release their catches where possible.

“The bottom line is we participate in a blood sport and getting people to change their habits is a drip drip process.

“We can’t be there all the time monitoring the beaches and no matter how hard you try there will likely be deaths.

“We try not to make them visible to the public.”

He continued: “I would like to point out though these fish will be eaten by gulls or foxes or other scavengers.

“They do re-enter our eco system.”