North American paddlefish eggs have earned a reputation as an affordable supplement to the traditional source of caviar in the Caspian and Black seasIt’s the kind of stuff that might make purists (or Tsars) cringe, but North American paddlefish eggs have earned a reputation around the world as a comparatively affordable supplement to the traditional source of caviar in the Caspian and Black seas.The market was born out of the collapse of the Soviet Union, when international buyers in Asia and Europe needed to find a new source of fish eggs after overfishing drove Eurasian sturgeon to the brink of extinction.