Fish farmer sentenced to time in halfway house-- shot Bald Eagle, 200 Ospreys, and Herons

[Ian David]

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- The owner of a Sunderland trout hatchery will spend six months in a halfway house for killing herons, ospreys and a bald eagle.

U-S District Judge Michael Ponsor also ordered Michael Zak to pay a $65,000 fine and serve five years probation.

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Zak told the judge that shooting the birds was the only way he knew to keep them from eating his fish. But Judge Ponsor said he couldn't understand why Zak just didn't spend the money to put nets over the fish pools to protect them from the birds.

Timothy Lloyd -- who worked for Zak -- also pleaded guilty in the case and was ordered to pay a $15,000 fine.

http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/local/BO58344/

[jpak]

1. I was just about to post this - the guy shot over 200 birds

He got off easy...

[malakai2]

2. Considering the cost of environmental protections...

For what state and federal departments spend protecting natural resources, the punishments for violations are often laughably light. And that's just for the people who we catch.