THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Thursday, February 8, 1996             TAG: 9602080385
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 
SOURCE: BY LANE DEGREGORY, STAFF WRITER 
                                             LENGTH: Short :   32 lines

HUNT TALKS WITH PATAKI ABOUT SALES OF WEAKFISH

North Carolina Gov. James B. Hunt Jr. has met with New York Gov. George Pataki to discuss commercial weakfish sales.

They talked about the controversial issue while attending the national governor's conference in Washington, D.C., this week.

North Carolina fishermen have complained that New York's Fulton Fish Market will not allow them to sell weakfish - also called gray trout - because of New York's state fisheries management rules.

Weakfish are among the most profitable species of fish caught in North Carolina, with more than 70 percent of the Atlantic Coast's landings coming from the Tar Heel state.

``The governors talked about the need for our fishermen to sell their weakfish at Fulton's,'' Debbie Crane, a spokeswoman for the North Carolina Department of Environment, Health and Natural Resources, said Wednesday from her Raleigh office.

``The governors spoke about that issue several times this week. The next step is to get the heads of both state's Divisions of Marine Fisheries together.''

That meeting, Crane said, should take place within the next few weeks. by CNB