U.S. District Court Judge Rya Zobel shut down the challenge to the controversial catch shares and sector management system imposed on the Northeast groundfishery in 2010, known as Amendment 16 of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, which governs fishing in federal waters.

The plaintiffs say the law clearly requires a referendum before a quota management system is put in place. They also say the government failed to study and mitigate the consequences of their actions on fishing communities and local economies. Magnuson requires both, the lawsuit charged. But Zobel disagreed that regulators did anything wrong.

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