tagged spoonbill project

[crappiekayaker]

Wow, this post went off in a total different direction then I intended.

I'll put my two cents in: 1) I too don't like seeing the nitwit, trashy, drunks who vehemently disregard regulations. That being said, at least their tin can with holes isn't as powerful as a wakeboat with a drunk teen as caption. 2) I'm pretty sure paddlefish are native to Missouri Waters and white river chain and due to manmade dams, must be stocked (all native species are important to an ecosystem). 3) I wish MDC would create an egg processing program (like Oklahoma) but that's even more money spent on paddlefish.

I think this tagging program is great. Not only does it give the public the opportunity to help MDC manage its resources, it saves the tax payer money. It’s a lot cheaper to give out a few T-shirts and one $500 prize then to pay an employee to track the fish.

This hasn't been brought up; I can see where this could put a bounty on the fish but it’s no different than a bass tournament, in my mind (except the paddlefish will die).

All in all, I like snagging and I look forward to it every year. If you go this year, happy snagging and good luck.

[SpoonDog]

I read somewhere the conservation sales tax costs Missourians about $12.00 for every $10,000 they purchase. For the price of a medium pizza or a spool of line or a couple wiggle warts you're getting the paddlefish program PLUS everything else MDC does- if that's too expensive, you probably don't have the budget to be fishing in the first place. And as has already been mentioned, much of the money comes from federal funds.

MDC's paddlefish program isn't centered around giving a couple thousand yokels an opportunity to get hammered and snag big fish for five or six weeks every spring. That's a side benefit, not the main purpose. Paddlefish are a big river species with specific spawning and habitat requirements which simply don't exist now that we've channelized and dammed most of our large rivers. The evidence biologists have indicates they can't spawn in the wild and maintain viable populations- so biologists have to raise them in hatcheries. It isn't as much about snagging as a lot of folks think- it's about keeping a charismatic and ecologically important species from declining further.

MDC prohibits the sale of game. You can't sell your deer or turkey, or walleye or crappie or trout, and I'm not sure why paddlefish should be treated any different. Some may see throwing the eggs overboard as wanton waste- but up until the last couple decades, there was no market for paddlefish roe. The only reason that market exists today is because every sturgeon species which has ever been used for caviar production is currently vulnerable to extinction- as sportsmen we should look at that trend and ask ourselves if we're in the business of protecting our fisheries, or pushing them over the edge for personal profit.

MDC prohibits the sale of game and their parts. You can't sell your deer, or turkeys, or rabbits, or walleye, or trout, I don't see why paddlefish would be any different. A quick google search of "Missouri paddlefish bust" demonstrates all sorts of reasons why letting anglers keep roe is a bad idea. Most folks seem to agree MDC's enforcement resources are already stretched pretty thin. To me it seems allowing folks to keep the roe (and potentially sell it) would create a whole lot more enforcement issues, spreading those resources even further. I'm not sure that's in the interest of our other fisheries.

I do agree the length limit/mandatory release of undersize fish seems silly- then again I've seen plenty of trout die due to poor handling practices, and few folks seem all that concerned about hauling bass up from 60 feet of water, stabbing them in the side, and throwing them back. Fish are pretty resilient critters, and I'd be surprised if the hooks were what killed the fish as opposed to gaffing, sticking hands up their gills, or letting them beat around on the side or bottom of a boat for a few minutes. But I'm glad MDC plans to look into mortality/angler catch rates, so we can have those questions answered and make better policy in the future. That's why they're here.