PANAMA CITY, Florida — A Florida charter boat captain is headed to prison for poisoning and shooting dolphins.

The Department of Justice announced that Zackery Brandon Barfield, 31, of Panama City, was sentenced to 30 days in prison and ordered to pay a $51,000 fine for three counts of poisoning and shooting dolphins.

Barfield’s acts violated the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act.

The DOJ said that from 2022-2023, Barfield poisoned and shot bottlenose dolphins on multiple occasions after he grew frustrated with them eating red snapper from the lines of his charter fishing clients.

“He began placing methomyl inside baitfish to poison the dolphins that surfaced near his boat. Methomyl is a highly toxic pesticide that acts on the nervous system of humans, mammals, and other animals, and is restricted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to control flies in non-residential settings. Barfield recognized methomyl’s toxicity and impact on the environment, but continued to feed poisoned baitfish to the dolphins for months,” the DOJ said in a news release.

Prosecutors said that while captaining fishing trips in December 2022 and the summer of 2023, Barfield saw dolphins eating snapper from his client’s fishing lines.

“On both occasions, he used a 12-gauge shotgun to shoot the dolphins that surfaced near his vessel, killing one immediately,” the DOJ said. “On other occasions, Barfield shot, but did not immediately kill, dolphins near his vessel. On one trip, he shot a dolphin while two elementary-aged children were on board, and another with more than a dozen fishermen on board.”

NOAA Fisheries said that based on evidence during the investigation, Barfield fed an estimated 24-70 dolphins poison-laden baitfish on charter trips that he captained.

Wednesday’s sentencing follows his guilty plea to three counts on Feb. 12.

Barfield’s prison sentence will be followed by a one-year term of supervised release.

NOAA Fisheries said from 2014 to 2024, there were 21 known intentional dolphin fatalities from gunshot wounds, arrows, explosives and other sharp objects. Research cited during the trial indicates that gunshot wounds to marine mammals are severely underestimated.

If you are aware of a violation of federal marine resource laws or federal pesticide laws, you are urged to contact NOAA Enforcement Hotline at (800) 853-1964 or EPA’s National Response Center at (800) 424-8802.

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