Spoonbill. Caviar And Ok Fish And Game

[Phil Lilley]

OK Fish and Game have a cleaning station set up close to Twin Bridges where they will dress/process your spoonbill... they take the eggs and they sell them. Says they made $9 million last year???!!

They're building a new station down the road toward Miami.

[Outside Bend]

That does sound pretty ridiculous- are anglers allowed to harvest the eggs for caviar outside of the state cleaning stations in OK? I'm fairly certain anglers can't keep the eggs of paddlefish harvested in MO.

Then again, commercial interests and government mismanagement have successfully put every sturgeon species on the planet in jeopardy of extinction. As demand for caviar increases, it doesn't surprise me the states would try to benefit from their paddlefish hatchery operations as much as possible.

[FishinCricket]

Wait, you aren't allowed to keep the eggs? Then why the heck do people go snagging spoonbill?

[DaddyO]

I don't know about other states, however, in Oklahoma you are allowed to keep the eggs for personal consumption. You are not allowed to sell them, unless authorized by the state to do so.

[Gavin]

Most snag them for the meat...A buddy gave me some a couple years ago and it wasnt bad at all...Good on the grill, and fried too. I understand there is allot of waste when you clean one. Big Head, lots of fatty red meat to discard. Its nice to see that OK is doing something with the eggs...a legal supply might help cut into the illegal trade in paddlefish eggs.

[FishinCricket]

a legal supply might help cut into the illegal trade in paddlefish eggs.

Nah, if that approach worked then you'd think they would considering doing the same with other "controlled substances"...

Wow, I didn't realize that friggin fish eggs were a "controlled substance"! What do fishermen in Missouri do with the eggs?

[duckydoty]

You are not allowed to possess paddlefish eggs in the state of Missouri. Big waste, but you have to dump them when you clean the fish.

[fishinSWMO]

I haven't cleaned any spoonbill myself since they started a

few years back. They even pick up your fish right on the river,

sure makes it nice to pick up fillets packed up just right for

smoking on the grill.

[FishinCricket]

You are not allowed to possess paddlefish eggs in the state of Missouri. Big waste, but you have to dump them when you clean the fish.

That's absolutely insane!

This reminds me of the time I got a ticket for beheading a fish before I left the river!!! Glad I learned that here... Cause I've had caviar and if I ever caught a paddlefish I woulda ate them eggs!

[troutfiend1985]

Seems like a bit of waste going in the MO side. Why not allow an angler to possess eggs of spoonbill, after all the only other option is to dump them in the stream. I hate stupid laws.

As far as OK goes, what if you wanted to keep the eggs? If you're allowed to possess the eggs under state law, and the agents came up to you wanting to take them from you, you would think this would be a deprivation of property, no? A little baffled on both sides of the fence here. MO makes no sense on this one, and OK would seem to be fine if, and only if, an angler had the option of keeping the eggs for himself.