Denver Broncos linebacker Von Miller will not face any charges for the illegal harvest of a hammerhead shark during a fishing trip last April. However, the charter boat company that he was with will incur a $2,000 fine for removing the endangered scalloped hammerhead from the water and operating without the proper permits.

“Everybody knows that I hunt and fish, that’s what I do,” Miller told the Denver Post after the incident. “I also believe in conservation. I’m not just out there going crazy. Whatever happened, it happened. We followed the rules and I did everything I was supposed to do.”

The star football player drew ire after catching the 9 1/2 foot shark off the coast of Miami last year. An Investigation by by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission was started after complaints by the organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals vowed to hold Miller and the fishing charter company accountable after the posts surfaced on social media.

“Seeing Von Miller smile as he holds a shark’s bloody body should turn any kind person’s stomach,” PETA’s senior director Stephanie Bell said in a statement

Miller maintained that the shark was released unharmed but under Florida law, bringing the endangered species onto the boat is considered an illegal harvest that puts the animal’s safety in jeopardy. The investigation was transferred to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration which decided to levy fines against the charter business that Miller had contracted with for the fishing excursion.

Scalloped hammerheads routinely grow to lengths of 15 feet and can live up to 35 years. Both great and smooth hammerheads are listed as “Endangered” by the IUCN Red List due to extreme fishing pressures and their slow rates of reproduction. It is estimated that the worldwide population of hammerheads has declined by nearly 80 percent in the last 25 years.