Spoonbill eggs can be processed into a gourmet dish

A poor man's bait can be a rich man's caviar — just add salt.

Paddlefish eggs — used by some anglers as catfish bait — can be made into delectable caviar that is an alternative to Caspian sea caviar, the supply of which is now limited by sturgeon harvest restrictions.

The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation plans to take advantage of that dwindling supply and increased demand for the luxury product by making and selling paddlefish caviar. The paddlefish eggs will come from fish caught by anglers on Grand Lake.

Paddlefish caviar is highly desirable, rated by some as the second-best caviar in the world, behind only beluga caviar.

Beluga is the biggest of all sturgeons, and its caviar is the most expensive in the world, selling on average for $150 to $200 an ounce.

Paddlefish — a cousin of the sturgeon — provides an alternative caviar that retails for more than $300 a pound. Oklahoma is one of the few states with a healthy paddlefish population, primarily in Grand Lake and its river systems.

The Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation Commission earlier this month approved a pilot project to begin in February, where the state Wildlife Department will harvest the eggs of paddlefish caught by anglers on Grand Lake and process the eggs into caviar.

The caviar then will be sold to wholesalers. State wildlife officials estimate they will earn $200,000 annually from the sales. It's estimated it will take about three years to recoup the initial start-up costs.

Most paddlefish eggs are discarded by anglers. A few make homemade caviar, while about one-third of paddlefish anglers will use the eggs as bait.

But 69 percent of anglers just throw the eggs away, according to surveys conducted by the state Wildlife Department.

"It's a wasted resource,” said Brent Gordon, northeast fisheries chief for the state wildlife department.

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