Fla. fisherman imprisoned for shooting, poisoning dolphins in front of kids
A Florida charter boat captain was sentenced to one month behind bars after admitting he shot and poisoned dolphins — sometimes in front of young children, according to authorities.Zackery Brandon Barfield, 31, opened fire on 5 bottlenose dolphins with a shotgun during fishing trips in 2022 and 2023, and fed poisoned bait to dozens more of the marine mammals over his frustration that they were stealing fish from his fishing charter clients, the U.S.
Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of Florida said in a statement.Barfield, who was a boat captain in Panama City, even shot dolphins while two elementary school children were on board, and in another instance, while more than a dozen fishermen were aboard boats he operated, prosecutors said.The brutal spree left at least one dolphin dead and sickened dozens more that eat insecticide-tainted baitfish, authorities said.Barfield fed an estimated “24–70 dolphins poison-laden baitfish on charter trips that he captained,” during six to seven charter trips that he captained, NOAA Fisheries said in a statement.“He knew the regulations protecting dolphins, yet he killed them anyway — once in front of children,” federal environmental prosecutor Adam Gustafson said Friday in a statement.The sicko fisherman pleaded guilty to two counts of illegal taking of a marine mammal and one count of federally prohibited use of a pesticide, according to court documents obtained by NBC News.
Barfield admitted the government’s narrative about his crimes was true, documents showed.He also wielded a 12-gauge Remington Wingmaster pump-action shotgun to shoot the marine mammals, which are off-limits under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, prosecutors said.Magistrate Judge Michael J.
Frank sentenced Barfield to a month in prison for each of the three counts to which he pleaded guilty, to be served concurrently in a single stretch, according to NOAA Fisheries.He was also ordered to pay a $51,000 fine, authorities said....