Bay County, FL – A Florida charter and commercial boat captain has been sentenced for shooting and poisoning bottlenose dolphins in 2022 and 2023. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Florida, 31-year-old Zachary Barfield pled guilty to two counts of killing a marine animal as well as prohibited use of a registered pesticide.
Barfield’s guilty plea was part of a plea deal; he was sentenced to one month in prison and ordered to pay a $51,000 fine for three counts of shooting and poisoning dolphins in violation of the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act.
Barfield killed the marine mammals because he was angry that they were eating Red Snapper from the lines of his charter fishing clients. In a Department of Justice Press Release, Barfield’s method of killing the dolphins with a shotgun was outlined:
On both occasions, he used a 12-gauge shotgun to shoot the dolphins that surfaced near his vessel, killing one immediately. 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 fisherman on board.
He also poisoned dozens of dolphins with pesticide laced baitfish.
Paige Casey, Acting Assistant Director, NOAA OLE Southeast Division, said: “The subject’s actions were intentional and heartless, and we’ll continue to pursue any harmful acts against marine mammals. Egregious crimes such as in this case have serious consequences.”
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8 Comments
What a disgrace! He is scum.
That’s all this son of a bitch got? One lousy month???
They should have given him a LOT longer than that AND taken his charter license away.
The fine is good, but he should have had more jail time and loss of his livelihood.
Bastard thought only his clients were entitled to the fish – but the dolphin eat to SURVIVE and he’s in THEIR home, not the other way around.
Florida is so good at patting itself on the back for doing a half-assed job of law enforcement.
Really — this creep should be kidnapped, tied up, taken out to deep sea and thrown in the ocean.
Let the sharks eat HIM.
Now THAT’s justice.
At least that fine will make a dent in his bank account. Too bad marine mammals are the only ones with the law on their side.
I WOULD FEED HIM FEET FIRST INTO MY WOOD CHIPPER !
One month? What bullshit! And if they think he’s going to pay they are idiots!! Florida is a joke when it comes to all animals!
It certainly seems that way. Look at Seaworld parks alone. Also lots of domestic animal cruelty seems to happen there. Shameful.
Hey Ken Dog, I am right there with you, again. I think we have done this before haven’t we? I hereby sincerely offer you my services as back-up chipper feeder. I will be by your side as we load all the Human Filth that hurt animals into your trusty chipper.
This ugly piece of filth! One month is PATHETIC! This asswipe needs to be shot and thrown into the ocean! Guaranteed he will NOT be missed! Sorry POS! Who the hell does this coward loser think he is?
Just one dolphin is worth 1 billion of this crapholder! What a disgusting sentence! He better pay every red damn cent!