April 22, 2015 — Mary Beth Nickell-Tooley, an at-large member from Maine since 2008, was informed Wednesday by NOAA Attorney Adviser Mitch MacDonald she “may not vote during the Council’s final deliberations on Habitat Amendment alternatives that open or close areas to fishing nor on the final vote to approve the Habitat Amendment for submission to NMFS.”
MacDonald’s opinion, which reversed an earlier opinion allowing her to vote on all habitat issues, was based on additional information furnished by Nickell-Tooley concerning an oral agreement to provide consulting services through her present business, Sustainable Harvest Consulting, to her former employer, O’Hara Corp.
“The Council decisions on opening or closing fishing areas to scallop fishing in the Habitat Amendment will have a quantifiable effect on O’Hara Corporation’s financial interests in the harvest of scallops,” MacDonald wrote in a letter to Nickell-Tooley.
MacDonald’s determination of a possible conflict forced Nickell-Tooley to recuse herself from voting on all habitat motions today and Thursday, as well as the final vote on the amendment as a whole, which is expected Thursday.
She was allowed, however, to comment on issues and motions that came before the council.
Nickell-Tooley said that while she may not agree with MacDonald’s opinion, she would abide by it. She did not say whether she would seek a review of MacDonald’s determination by NOAA’s general counsel within 10 days, as is her right.
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