CONTACT:  Scott Smullen                FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
                                       May 5, 1998

Secretary of Commerce William M. Daley announced today the appointment of William A. Foster of Hatteras, N.C., to the state's obligatory seat on the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council. The council is one of eight regional councils that work in partnership with the federal government to prepare management plans for marine fish stocks in offshore waters of their respective areas.

Foster is a commercial and recreational fisherman, a past member of the North Carolina Fisheries Commission, and also has training as a marine biologist. Mr. Foster will complete a three-year term ending on August 10, 1999. He replaces Rick E. Marks who resigned in November 1997.

The council's fishery management plans are reviewed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Marine Fisheries Service, and approved by the Secretary of Commerce. The councils represent diverse fisheries interests and are composed of members whose combined knowledge and experience represent commercial and recreational fisheries interests for each geographical area.

With the Secretary's appointment of Foster, obligatory members on the Mid- Atlantic Council represent the states of Delaware, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virgnia, as follows:

• John C. Bryson -- Dover, Delaware
• Anthony D. Dilernia -- Office of Marine Education, Kingsbourgh Community College, Manhattan Beach, New York
• Gary A. Caputi -- Pt. Pleasant, New Jersey
• James E. Douglas Jr. -- Newport News, Virginia
• William A. Foster -- Hatteras, North Carolina
• Ricks E. Savage -- Offshore Information Publication, Inc., Wallace and Associates, Salisbury, Maryland
• Alan D. Weiss -- Blue Water Fishing Tackle Co., King of Prussia, Pennsylvania