It's not a particularly good looking fish and it's nearly prehistoric. But the Oklahoma paddlefish is suddenly very popular worldwide for a reason that may surprise you. It turns out that paddlefish eggs, commonly called roe, taste a lot like something that costs a lot more. Jason Schooley is a paddlefish biologist with the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation, he explained "it has a similar color, taste, and texture to beluga sturgeon eggs." That means paddlefish roe looks and tastes like the most expensive caviar on the market.
In a KRMG exclusive, we talked to Jason and Tulsa game warden Carlos Gomez about what has become a problem on our Oklahoma lakes.
While there are legal fisherman taking paddlefish, there are others doing it illegally and what's happening to the fish is troublesome. Groups from outside the United States are flooding into our state to catch paddlefish and take their eggs. Some of these groups are poaching much more than the legal limit and doing it in a disgusting manner. Gomez told KRMG news "some of them will catch the fish, slice open the belly for the eggs and dump the fish back in the lake."
Listen to the extended interview with Jason and Carlos with one click here.
Gomez told us Oklahoma is already a hotbed for paddlefish because our limits are much greater than most others. “Demand for the fish is so high in some states, they actually have a lottery draw for a paddlefish permit.” Carlos said that permit is good for one fish per year. How many can you catch in Oklahoma? “One fish per day” he noted.
Why would concerns outside the country want these eggs so badly? They are making huge money off of them. Carlos said the operations are in-depth and worldwide. “They ship the eggs to some other persons and then it changes hands under the table” he began. They then process it and has been found to be reimported into the United States as beluga sturgeon. Beluga caviar can sell for hundreds of dollars per ounce. Paddlefish roe sells for about $21.00 per ounce, easy math for the bad guys.
That means someone in a $5000.00 tuxedo in New York, Paris, London or anywhere else could be eating what they think is beluga caviar when in reality it’s Oklahoma fish eggs? “Yeah that could happen and I’m sure it has happened” Carlos told KRMG.
Oklahoma takes the paddlefish seriously. Schooley told us the wildlife department went so far as to build an entire facility to research, process and study the fish at Grand Lake. Carlos said the Paddlefish Research Center is a big help to legitimate fisherman "we take the fish, package and vacuum seal the meat and give it back to the fisherman" Gomez said. "Then the department of wildlife harvests the caviar and a whole lot of research information is also gleaned from the fish that comes through the center" he summed up. But that's not all, the department saves those eggs and sells them "it's able to be sold above the table and that money is used to pay for extra enforcement and some of this research."
Schooley told KRMG the paddlefish isn’t on any endangered list just yet but there are concerns. “What we’ve learned through the RPC is many of our Grand Lake fish were spawned in 1999 and they are reaching the end of their natural life span.” That’s worrisome because paddlefish don’t reproduce until they are nine to ten years old.
Both Schooley and Gomez say the limits in Oklahoma may change soon but until then, please keep an eye out what you are on the lake. If you see someone taking what you think are more than their limit on paddlefish, let the Wildlife Department know at (405) 521-3721.