The government has backed calls for the European Union to end the "scandal" of forcing fishermen to throw "perfectly edible" fish back into the sea.
Fisheries minister Richard Benyon told MPs there was a "window of opportunity" to reform the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) and he hoped to see discards eradicated.
MPs approved a backbench motion, which called on the government to vote against proposed reforms of the EU Commons Fisheries Policy unless they implement an ecosystems-based approach to fisheries management, without a vote.
The fisheries minister said: "The conscience of the nation has been moved by the sight of perfectly edible, quality fish being thrown into the sea dead. An abomination in a hungry world, I'm sure everyone agrees."
People were "outraged" at the practice, he said, adding: "What if half of the lambs we slaughtered in this country had been dumped at the side of the road? There would have been riots in the streets."
Benyon told MPs: "I may not be a rabid Eurosceptic but I'm no friend of the CFP. It is not the fact that the CFP is 'common' that is the problem, it is the 'policy' that is wrong.
"Fish do not respect lines on maps. Many stocks that our fishermen exploit spend half their life in the waters of other countries."
A shared legal framework was necessary to manage fish stocks but this should be free from "unnecessary and over-detailed regulation" and stocks should be managed on a "regional or sea basin basis".
He said: "It means giving fishermen clear entitlements to fish stocks and giving them a stake in the long-term health of those stocks."
Shadow environment minister Willie Bain called for an end to the "scandal of discarded fish that has so appalled so many people in this country".
He said: "With a strong motion passed by this House today, concerted action by the EU Commission and member state governments, we can turn intentions into deeds worthy of the cause raised in the Fish Fight campaign.
"Let us work for an ecosystems approach to fisheries, let us introduce a regionalised structure for the CFP, let us establish long-term catch quotas, let us provide incentives for new nets and new technologies."
Proposing the motion, Tory Zac Goldsmith said was difficult to know how many fish were discarded, but EU estimates pointed to towards the figure being around 40 to 60 per cent of the total catch.
The Richmond Park MP called it "grossly unfair" that fisherman got the blame for those figures, as discards were "inevitable and unavoidable consequence of decisions imposed on them by politicians."
Goldsmith called on the government to "act now" to end the "scandal" of fish discards, calling on ministers to protect UK small fishing vessels from the "onslaught" of industrial foreign trawlers.
He suggested replacing landing quotas with catch quotas, so fish that would otherwise be discarded had to be landed.
Concluding, the fisheries minister welcomed the motion, however, he said it did not fully reflect the scope of the government ambition for CFP reform.
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