More than half a million people have signed up to a campaign for sustainable fishing since Ramsgate featured in a shocking TV show.

Hugh’s Fish Fight followed local fishermen who are forced by law to throw thousands of fish – known as discards – back into the sea because they are not allowed to land them.

The Channel 4 documentary, which aired last week, showed them throwing huge cod and other valuable species overboard, while Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, who is fronting the campaign, followed behind in a boat and scooped up the fish in a giant net.

His campaign to end discards will see a petition handed to the EU fisheries commissioner Maria Damanaki, as well as members of the Common Fisheries Policy Reform Group and all MEPs.

It also urges people to ask their local fish and chip shop to sell mackerel – a more sustainable species than favourites such as cod and haddock.

After securing his 500,000th supporter on Monday, Mr Fearnley-Whittingstall said: "It’s a fantastic result and I’d like to thank every single person who has signed up and helped spread the word far and wide. It’s an astonishing achievement.

"Of course it’s not the end of our Fish Fight, it’s just the beginning.

"I won’t squander this support. It will not be wasted, like all that beautiful fish thrown back into the sea.

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Join Hugh’s Fish Fight at www.fishfight.net or become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/hughsfishfight.