i'm not judging the guy for what he did, nor am i condemning him...the last thing i want to come across as is being holier than thou...my own response was specifically towards the question of legality (that was put on the table).
maybe the guy was short on cash and needed to put food on the table or maybe he felt the steelhead was going to waste...who knows? but a question is still a question, so if someone decides to participate and answer, why can't they without being labelled as a wannabe CO or lawyer? seriously?
i like to pick and choose my battles...if you really want to get into the bigger scheme of things and have a real hands on experience, join some of the organizations i participated/supported/actively registered to like SRWS, David Suzuki Foundation, and Amnesty International... then lets talk about triviality.