Panama City Charter Boat Captain Fined $1,000 for Shooting at Dolphins

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mike_s

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Not sure if this is a dive charter boat. never heard of it, so I assume it's a fishing charter (out of Panama City) (it does reference fishing in the story)


Florida Charter Boat Captain Fined $1,000 for Shooting at Dolphins

Washington, D.C. (Oct 12, 2006 12:53 EST) A Panama City charter boat captain was sentenced on federal charges Tuesday for shooting at dolphins in U.S. waters last October.

Christopher Kevin Weaver, captain of the Leo Too, a charter boat operating out of Treasure Island Marina, was placed on two years of probation and fined $1,000 for violating the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) for shooting at several dolphins on Oct. 13, 2005. As a condition of his probation, Weaver may not possess a firearm for two years.

Standing on the bridge of the Leo Too, Weaver fired a .38 caliber handgun at a dolphin while it was in the water near the boat, according to a news release from the Department of Justice. When the Leo Too moved to another fishing spot, Weaver again shot at one or more dolphins. It is unknown whether his shots struck any of the dolphins.


Weaver pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of violating the MMPA on Aug. 8, 2006. The case was investigated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Office of Law Enforcement and prosecuted by Mary Dee Carraway, Trial Attorney for the Justice Department's Environmental Crimes Section.

The MMPA prohibits the taking of any marine mammal, including dolphins, in waters or lands under the jurisdiction of the United States. "Take" as defined in the Act, means to harass, hunt, capture or kill or attempt to harass, hunt, capture, or kill any marine mammal. "Harassment," also defined by the Act, means any act, pursuit, torment or annoyance which has the potential to injure a marine mammal in the wild or has the potential to disturb a marine mammal by causing disruption of behavioral patterns, including, but no limited to, migration, breathing, nursing, breeding, feeding or sheltering.
 
as-hole
 
nelson.gif

HAW-HAW!​
 
Sucks he only got 1000. And after 2 yrs he gets to have guns again, what a crock. he used a gun in the commision of a crime, he shouldnt be allowed to have one again, ever.
 
A short stretch in PMITA prison might straighten him right out.
 
Instead of starting a new thread on the subject, another captain has been caught shooting at Dolphins



Alabama Boat Captain Denies Shooting Dolphin, Admits Harassment
Wednesday, January 03, 2007


ORANGE BEACH, Ala. — An Orange Beach charter boat captain has been accused of shooting a dolphin that was trailing behind his fishing vessel in the Gulf of Mexico.

The U.S. attorney's office in Mobile charged Don G. Walker, 50, with unlawfully taking a marine mammal for allegedly shooting the dolphin on June 10.

"We think that it's important that all of the fishermen play by the same rules and that all of the other charters who follow the law are doing the right thing," Assistant U.S. Attorney Maria Murphy said Tuesday.

Walker, who has operated a charter fishing business for 27 years, denied he had shot a dolphin, the Press-Register reported Wednesday. But he has agreed to plead guilty to harassing a dolphin.

"I was accused of harassment, and that's all I'm going to say about it," Walker said. "It's supposed to be taken care of. I admitted to harassment."

He will receive a summons to appear before a federal magistrate judge on the misdemeanor charge, but a court date has not yet been set. The maximum penalty for the charge is up to a year in prison and a $100,000 fine.

Murphy said some of the customers made a complaint against Walker after the June 10 charter fishing trip, and one took a photograph of water spraying near the vessel from the gunshot.

The National Marine Fisheries Service is investigating the case.

Walker, who takes fishing trips daily during the season, said he believes he will get probation for the offense.
 
CheddarChick:
gees...got nothing else to do out there? What idiots

I certainly will not defend harassing or shooting dolphins but it should be put in context...to most people dolphins are flipper with a cute grin on his face. To a commercial fisherman who makes his living having people catch fish off of his boat, a dolphin trailing behind his boat means bait fish will be scared away and in turn the predators that feed off of them will leave. The only place a captain makes money off of seeing dolphins is on a sight seeing cruise...any other time they are a fish that is scaring away business.

I repeat again, this doesn't justify shooting at them but it does explain why someone could feel compelled to shoot at something that in their mind is scaring business and money away. Just another perspective.
 
Knight1989:
Sucks he only got 1000. And after 2 yrs he gets to have guns again, what a crock. he used a gun in the commision of a crime, he shouldnt be allowed to have one again, ever.


what about the 10/20 law? ten years for possesion of a gun in a crime, 20 years if you fire it?

we don't need more gun laws, we just need to enforce the ones we have!
 
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