Hugh’s Fish Fight is an on-going ecological campaign championed by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall which aims to ban fishing discards in the North Sea.  The objective of the campaign is to generate sufficient pressure to force a change to EU law.  It was essential to the success of the campaign to generate interest and awareness amongst a variety of bodies including policy makers, pressure groups, environmental organisations and the general public in an interesting and engaging way.

Drawing on the strengths of social media to generate awareness of the campaign, we developed a mobile app that supports the Channel 4 TV episodes produced by Keo Films.  The app highlights the issues and aims of the campaign as well as offering interesting and useful information about fish, recipes and restaurants.  The app offers the latest news on the campaign progress which users can share with their friends.  Additionally, the app includes a Marine Conservation Society guide to sustainable fish species and suggests alternatives to those species at risk.  The app also contains a comprehensive recipe collection from well-known celebrity chefs with detailed written and video instructions.  The user is encouraged to try the recipes at home, rate them in-app and share them with their friends on Facebook, Twitter and via email.  Furthermore, there are detailed reviews of UK fish restaurants, each rated for their sustainability by Fish2Fork.

Hugh’s Fish Fight app has become Channel 4’s second most-downloaded app and is featured in iTunes ‘Best Apps of 2011’.  The app played a pivotal role in garnering support for the campaign which has now helped to force a debate in the Houses of Parliament, resulting in the Government funding a six month study into the effects of a discard ban.  This activity was followed closely by the European Commission publishing a proposal for a new Common Fisheries Policy which recommended a ban on discards.