Fishing captain sentenced for shooting, poisoning dolphins in Gulf of America
Fishing captain sentenced for shooting, poisoning dolphins in Gulf of America From 2014 to 2024, there were 21 known intentional dolphin fatalities from gunshot wounds, arrows, explosives and other sharp objects, the NOAA said.
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A "longtime charter and commercial fishing captain" is in deep waters after poisoning and shooting dolphins in the Gulf of America, formerly known as the Gulf of Mexico, federal authorities said.
Zackery Brandon Barfield, 31, of Panama City, Florida, was sentenced to 30 days in prison and ordered to pay a $51,000 fine months after pleading guilty to three counts of poisoning and shooting dolphins in violation of the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act, the Northern District of Florida announced on May 23.
"The Gulf of America is a vital natural resource," Acting U.S. Attorney Michelle Spaven said in a statement. "The defendant's selfish acts are more than illegally poisoning and shooting protected animals – they are serious crimes against public resources, threats to the local ecosystem, and a devastating harm to a highly intelligent and charismatic species."
Barfield, who's been a licensed charter and commercial fishing captain in the Panama City area throughout his adulthood, poisoned and shot bottlenose dolphins on multiple occasions from 2022 to 2023, the U.S. attorney's office said, citing court documents and statements made in court. He pleaded guilty to his crimes in February, court records show.
When did Barfield begin poisoning and shooting dolphins?
Federal prosecutors reference a time in the summer of 2022 when Barfield became frustrated with the dolphins eating red snapper from the lines of his charter fishing clients. To rid the problem, he began placing methomyl, a highly toxic pesticide that's harmful to humans and wildlife, inside baitfish to poison the dolphins that came up near his boat, according to the U.S. attorney's office.
Methomyl is restricted by the Environmental Protection Agency to control flies in non-residential settings, federal prosecutors said. Despite knowing the toxicity of methomyl, Barfield continued to feed poisoned baitfish to the dolphins for months, including on an estimated six to seven charter trips, the U.S. attorney's office said.
While Barfield was captaining fishing trips in December 2022 and the summer of 2023, he used a 12-gauge shotgun to shoot at least five dolphins when he saw them eating snapper from his client's fishing lines, federal officials said, adding that he killed one during this period. Other times, Barfield shot but did not immediately kill dolphins near his boat.
Barfield shot a dolphin in front of elementary-aged children
The U.S. attorney's office said on one trip, Barfield shot a dolphin while two elementary-aged children were aboard his boat, along with more than a dozen fishermen.
"He knew the regulations protecting dolphins, yet he killed them anyway — once in front of children," Acting Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson, of the DOJ's Environment and Natural Resources Division, said in a statement.
How did federal authorities find out about Barfield's crimes?
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration learned about Barfield's behaviors in 2023 when one of its special agents received a tip about a fisherman killing bottlenose dolphins, the government agency said, adding that this information culminated in a two-year investigation.
Evidence obtained throughout the investigation determined that Barfield fed between 24-70 dolphins poison-laden baitfish on charter trips that he captained, according to the NOAA. When asked why, the captain said he was "frustrated with dolphins stealing his catch," the government agency said.
From 2014 to 2024, there were 21 known intentional dolphin killings from gunshot wounds, arrows, explosives and other sharp objects, the NOAA said.
"There are consequences to individuals who decide to harm protected and endangered species," Paige Casey, acting assistant director of the NOAA Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement Southeast Division, said in a statement. "We take these types of actions seriously and we will exhaust any and all leads related to marine mammal deaths to prosecute bad actors to the full extent of the law."
Barfield's prison sentence will be followed by a one-year term of supervised release, the U.S. attorney's office said.
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