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NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A federal judge today upheld a new rule allocating separate red snapper quotas for private recreational anglers and licensed charter captains.

U.S. District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo made the ruling in a lawsuit brought by a nonprofit group of recreational anglers and three of its 120,000 members. The Coastal Conservation Association contended that the rule was arbitrary and said its members would be hurt because anglers could take fewer red snapper.

"This decision is a major win for hundreds of thousands of recreational anglers who love to fish for red snapper but aren't fortunate enough to own their own boat," Capt. Shane Cantrell, executive director of the Charter Fishermen's Association, said in a news release.

The fish are highly prized and tightly managed, with catch limits and other rules for commercial and recreational fishermen. Commercial boats are allocated 51 percent of the total, with a separate quota for each boat.

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