Paddlefish Egg Deal Kind Of Wrangles My Feathers

[fishinwrench]

Please believe me when I say I am not trying to pick a fight here and I couldn't agree with this Gentleman's statement more. But....has it occurred to anyone that this is EXACTLY what has happened with the Big Money Bass Tournaments ? Resources....valuable....career....ring any bells ?

I attempted to make that comparison in my head too...but it doesn't fly. Black bass aren't stocked, and are for the most part released alive.

The closest comparison (of a fish being stocked via tax-payers dollars and then revenue being generated by it) would be trout, I think. But we (tax payers) don't get to touch that revenue, it is expected to be a non-profit. At least directly.

[jdmidwest]

It all boils down to man's intervention in the whole thing. The manmade dams create choke points that allow the fish to become easy targets. The dams impede the progress of the fish to their natural spawning patterns so they have to be regulated in some sort of way. Paddle fish have suffered from all of this so they had to be protected. Man has depleted other fish that produce the caviar in other countries where it is relished as a delicacy. Man has created an artificial market for the paddlefish eggs and generated the demand.

Why are the paddlefish only in season during the spawn? Are they so elusive you can not catch them any other time of the year? Are tailwaters the only place to catch them?

How does one possess a fish but not its eggs? Do you have to clean them on the water? Do you only catch females? I would think you would want to release the females and let them spawn and eat the males.

I only ask because it is one of the fishing sports that I really know very little about and have never attempted to catch one.

[Seth]

I inow I would love to be able to sell the eggs from just one big sow each year. That would more than pay for my fishing expenses for a spring! Also you can make your own caviar but the catch is the fish and eggs have to be transported home whole. If you clean the fiah on the water then you have to dump the eggs.

[fishinwrench]

Yep, nothing wrong or threatening about having a hobby that has the potential to pay for itself. I don't believe that the chance to make a couple grand once a year would "cause a riot below Truman, and decimate the spoonbill population beyond repair".

If you offered me 2k to take up needlepoint I'd most likely tell you to keep it.

I'm betting that these numbers concerning the value of unprocessed roe are being highly exaggerated. I bet if you had a whole bushel basket full of them you could not find anyone to give you 4k for it.

[bfishn]

Where can we take it from here to be heard and not just shrugged off?

"Those wishing to be placed on the agenda for a presentation or other business must send a written request to Tom A. Draper, Regulations Committee Chair, Missouri Department of Conservation, P.O. Box 180, Jefferson City, MO 65102-0180, or Fax to 573-751-4467, at least ten (10) working days before the meeting date."

from:

http://mdc.mo.gov/about-us/about-regulations/process-adopting-regulations

Getting heard appears to be fairly straightforward. Not getting shrugged off would depend on your presentation. I expect a lot of homework, documented references and statistics, and an impressive, fact-checked printed report would be a minimum to get consideration. Having an established reference program like Oklahoma's should be a big plus.

[Justin Spencer]

Somewhere I saw a statement by MDC saying they wouldn't do this due to the large area they would have to cover, compared to that of Oklahoma.

[ktm3ten]

The problem here is that our culture has taught for so many years now that 'profit' is a dirty word. Our whole popular culture tells us every day that those who work for nothing and non-profit is good and wholesome but those who seek profit are dirty and ruthless. While there are dirty and ruthless people, profit is not.

In this case, someone is willing to pay thousands of dollars (that they presumably gained from honest work somewhere else) in exchange for these eggs. For fear that someone harvests these eggs in hopes of making money, we decide to use the government to destroy a resource.

Bill couldn't be more right here, our fear of profit seeking is causing the destruction in potentially millions of dollars of wealth, simply thrown away.

I like sport, I like the outdoors and serenity it provides. I also think that guides who make a profit by taking customers out to enjoy this and teaching new people the beauty of our sport is good and both client, guide, and casual sportsman like me and all those who read this board, benefit from that trade. Our guides that have sustainable businesses that exist for many years are not 'raping' the resource, they have more interest in protecting it than anyone...and so the profit motive goes.

Similarly, I met a family a couple weeks ago who saved up all year to drive down from Mexico, MO for dad to teach his 9 year old boy what snaggin' is all about. They were cleaning a monster paddlefish and were disposing of the eggs, telling me about this travesty. If we'd allow them to utilize the several thousand dollar resource they harvested, their lives, regular people, and the community they live in (and potentially they fish in) would be made better. Instead, for fear of 'profit', we use government to force them to throw the eggs in the dumpster and pay their own darn gas to get home.

Who wins here?

[fishinwrench]

Exactly!

And we're gonna pay thousands of dollars to agents and investigators, to be sure nobody makes a buck from their catch.

Total stupidity IMO.

[Flysmallie]

I agree with what you are saying on letting people cash in on the resource but it's not that easy. If they would allow this then next year when little Johnny comes down with his family to snag a bill and help out his family and community he finds an armada of boats on the water. There is no room for any more boats. There are very few legal paddlefish left. All you can hope for is to snag one that has already been gutted and hasn't been in the water too long so you can enjoy the meat.

The thing you guys are not taking into consideration is the increase in snagging that would occur if you basically put a bounty on a fish. You want to bring out the a$$holes. Throw some cash in the water and watch them come. It's a sure fire way to destroy a resource, a pastime.

[GNSfishing]

Exactly!

And we're gonna pay thousands of dollars to agents and investigators, to be sure nobody makes a buck from their catch.

Total stupidity IMO.

Now we know what happened to the Buffalo herds that used to roam this great land......