Caviar, the snack of czars. The word symbolizes luxury food at its most expensive.
Caviar– and the money to be made from selling it—was behind a two-year undercover investigation and sting by conservation agencies. That operation ended on March 13 -14 with more than 100 citations and arrests of suspects from Missouri. In addition, eight men of eastern European descent, seven from out of state, were federally indicted for interstate trafficking of poached wildlife products. The wildlife in question is the paddlefish, native to Missouri and surrounding states.
About 85 Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) agents worked with about 40 agents from the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, with cooperation of local law enforcement from Benton County, MO and conservation agents from sixteen other states.
The story rivals any good suspense novel where money is the motive.
Poached paddlefish offered promises of profit
It happens that the state fish of Missouri, the paddlefish, produces roe (eggs) that can be processed into caviar of a quality second only to that of the increasingly rare sturgeon from the Caspian Sea. Paddlefish caviar sells at $25-$35 per ounce.
There is only one hitch. By Missouri law, the roe of paddlefish caught by sport fisherman cannot be sold; in fact, the roe must by law be consumed where they are extracted from the fish, usually in the home of the fisherman. Businesses can be licensed to sell the roe from fish caught on the Mississippi River, but commercial fishing for these fish is prohibited on rivers such as the Osage and James in western Missouri. The roe of paddlefish from these spring-fed rivers is considered superior to Mississippi roe.
The lure of huge profits proved too tempting to a large ring of poachers and their associates who operated near Warsaw, Missouri.
Warsaw calls itself the “Paddlefish Capital of the World.” The town is on the Osage River, downstream from Truman Lake Dam. Because paddlefish swim upriver to spawn in the spring, but cannot reach their spawning grounds because of the dam, the waters near Warsaw are prime paddlefish ‘snagging’ grounds.
Paddlefish are huge fish, growing up to seven feet in length, and weighing up to 160 pounds. A female can have an egg mass of about 20 lbs, up to 25% of her body weight.
Larry Yamnitz is the chief law enforcement officer of the MDC Protection Division. He says that on the black market, paddlefish caviar sells for about $13 an ounce. So even at black market prices, a large pregnant female could have $4000 worth of roe. Retail, that roe might be worth $11,000.
Paddlefish, or spoonbills as they are sometimes known, are not endangered in Missouri. Since they can no longer spawn productively in the lakes created by dams, MDC hatcheries stock the fisheries annually with about 45,000 foot-long fingerlings. Conservation tax dollars maintain the once-native species for sports fishermen, who must abide by fish and wildlife laws. Legal harvest size is 34 inches, and only two paddlefish can be taken per day.
How the story unfolded
A few years ago, MDC agents started getting reports that paddlefish snaggers had been approached by men offering to buy their catch if it was female. The agency also received anonymous tips through their hotline.
“People know you are not supposed to sell sport fish from that river,” says Yamnitz. “According to the North American Model of Conservation, everybody owns the critters.”
A bit about paddlefish
This 400 million year old species has a skeleton of cartilage rather than bone, and lacks scales, making it somewhat similar to sharks. However, it has no teeth, and sustains itself through filter feeding. Similar to the habits of some whales, it swims slowly with its mouth open to catch zooplankton, meaning small crustaceans and insects.
Paddlefish can live for 30 years or more. It takes 6-8 years to reach the legal harvest size of 34 inches. Females become sexually mature at 8-10 years and spawn only every 2-3 years. Males mature earlier and spawn annually.
Paddlefish, native to the Missouri, Mississippi and smaller rivers such as the Osage, require long lengths of free-flowing water. Like salmon, they swim upriver to spawn on gravel beds.
These fish have been a source of protein along the Mississippi for a long time. They are net-fished commercially, and sold as spoonbill catfish or white catfish.
MDC decided to investigate the reports using undercover tactics. Since its creation in 1975, a special unit goes after illegal commercialization of wildlife. This unit consists of highly trained investigators, all of whom are full-time conservation agents.
The evidence uncovered by the special unit has led to 4 separate indictments.
Bogdan Nahapetyan, an Armenian citizen who had been residing illegally in Lake Ozark for 17 years, allegedly approached J.B. and G.W about buying as many paddlefish eggs as they could supply. According to the indictment he said, “You hook me up with the good stuff, you going to have a very good business for the future. You know this guy, I’m telling you, he’s a close friend of mine.” His “close friend”, Petr Babenko of Vineland New Jersey operated a specialty grocery business. Babenko travelled to Lake Ozark where he took the eggs that Nahapetyan had purchased from four paddlefish and transported them by car to New Jersey.
Andrew Alexander Praskovsky from Erie, Colorado is alleged to have travelled to Missouri to meet with J. B. and R.B. to arrange purchase of eggs from 7 paddlefish. As he was about to take off from Dulles airport on what he said was his annual trip to Russia, law enforcement officials discovered 43 ounces of fresh paddlefish eggs, and 25 ounces of dried paddlefish eggs in his luggage.
In another case, Fedor Pakhnyuk is alleged to have removed eggs from three purchased paddlefish carcasses , processed them into caviar, and transported them to Illinois. He offered to show sellers in Warsaw the “markets” in Chicago, Illinois in return for a continuing business arrangement.
Finally, four other defendants from Colorado are charged with similar violations. Arkady Lvovoskiy, Dmitri Elitchev, Artour Magdesian, and Felix Baravik are alleged to have visited Warsaw for two snagging seasons. They are alleged to have purchased and processed large quantities of eggs, and also caught numbers of fish beyond the legal limit when fishing themselves. The eggs were then driven back to Colorado.
If the defendants are convicted, they face a maximum of five years in prison, fines of $250,000 per count (2 or 3 per indictment), and forfeiture of all property involved in the crime.
Yamnitz emphasized , “The backbone of our operation is citizen involvement.” He further added that Missouri is fortunate to have a citizenry who put conservation in a constitutional amendment, and established a separate tax for purposes of maintaining our natural resources in a sustainable way. Missouri is one of only three states with a dedicated conservation sales tax.
He also makes clear that the Department of Conservation is dedicated to enforcing its resource-related laws. All Missouri conservation agents are also commissioned as deputy federal game wardens by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. All agents have completed a four-year college degree in a field such as fisheries, forestry, or criminal justice. Then, as licensed peace officers, they must complete six months’ training at their own academy, learning law enforcement as well as fish and wildlife management.
Paddlefish Snagging Season Just Begun
Sport fishing for paddlefish began on Friday, March 15 and continues until April 30.
As many as 16,000 legal snaggers will try for one of those trophy-size fish in Missouri’s waters. This year willing sport anglers in several locations will be asked to participate in some data collection to learn more about paddlefish biology and learn to better manage their populations. Aside from weight, sex, and length they may be asked to supply a sample of the ovaries or eggs, or a section of the jawbone for age determination.
And, as always, agents will be alert to signs of poaching.
This article was originally published in the St. Louis Beacon.