A federal district court ruled Tuesday that a group of Alaska bottom trawl fishing vessels must reduce the amount of fish they throw overboard as waste in the process of targeting the most valuable fish.

The new federal regulation, known as Amendment 79, requires certain Bering Sea and Aleutian Island bottom trawl catcher/processor vessels that are over 125 feet long to start retaining 65 percent of their catch in 2008 and increase it to 85 percent by 2011.