INDIANAPOLIS, April 25 (UPI) -- Conservation officers in Indiana arrested 12 people accused of illegally catching paddlefish for ersatz caviar.
Caviar is sturgeon eggs but since there is a shortage of sturgeon in the Caspian Sea there is a lucrative market for paddlefish eggs, which have a "similar taste, look and consistency to the real thing," a news release from the Indiana Department of Conservation said.
Conservation officers worked undercover for more than a year to infiltrate the alleged ring working along tributaries of the Ohio River, the department said.
Each of 12 people arrested was charged with "illegal sale of a wild animal," the agency said. They face a combined total of 39 felony charges.
Officers confiscated four boats, three vehicles, processing equipment, fishing equipment and records. Illicit drugs and large sums of cash were also seized from some of those arrested.
The agency said that one paddlefish can provide $600 to $800 in eggs and a fisherman's annual income for illegal harvesting of the eggs is $100,000 to $400,000.
Paddlefish are not thought to be endangered but the stocks are believed to be shrinking.
