Yea I wouldn't advocate breaking the law. Caviar comes in three grades and must come from a Sturgeon. Beluga is expensive because the fish are being hunted to extinction. The twolower grades I've had and I find them similar. I'm sure a Russian would slap me for what I'm about to write next. OK, OK, I HAVE been slapped for saying this. American Paddlefish roe is a VERY close stand in for the middle grade of Russian/Iranian caviar.
Our sturgeon are protected for a reason. If you gotta try it there are sturgeon farms that sell the meat and roe. The eggs aren't eaten right out of the fish. They are seined, rinsed, salted and cured. You can find the process on Youtube.
Yes Asian carp are excellent eating. There are floating bones in the fillet but they are quite large on most of them. We get allot of "Big Head" carp. Cleaning one of those is faster than cleaning 5 Crappie or Wipers. The Dept of LA DNR did a video series on how to totally debone them. You tube flying fish great dish. It's a bit of work. I don't go through all that. I rip the fillets off skin them, and remove the red flesh which isn't much. From there I either smoke it in my Webber kettle or dust it with Mrs. Dash Fiesta Lime, grill it on high heat till done. then I flake it away from the bones. Bend the fillets in small portions across the grain and they will pop right out. the pile of meat is then used for fish tacos. The smoked meat is great warm or cold with crackers and cream cheese or my favorite as a filler to a thin omelet with a bit of cheese. Man I'm getting hungry talking about this.
The Obama admin. and the Bush admin spent serious money on the problem. Part of that included working with a commercial chef to tray and develop a commercial demand for the meat. Because of the bones it's economically borderline. Americans don't care for fish bones. Removing them in mass means presteaming the fish then flaking the bones out. I winds up being on par with lobster . . . which it isn't. It is still excellent eating. The texture is somewhere between grouper and Mahi. It's a snow white large flake meat that also frys well. I love the stuff.
Other cultures eat bony fish all the time. In Hawaii they eat the "bone fish" by scraping the meat out of it with a spoon, forcing it through a collander to get any missed bones or scales out and then either fry up a burger patty(with herbs and seasoning) or serve as a raw fish pudding.
a man named Sam Wood has a bow fishing guide service and did a youtube video on cooking Buffalo carp. They have the same bone structure and it works for the Asian carp (which aren't actually a carp . . . it's just a name). He uses a a meat grinder for the fillet then fries fish balls. I want to try this soon. I have a processor but that should work. Large ones are best boned out or grilled or steamed and flaked. The smaller ones (1.5 - 2 feet long) will grind.
I tried pressure cooking a medium one to "soften the bones". It didn't work that great for a 30 min cook. At 45 min chicken bones are edible so 30 min should have been more than enough. Meat was really soft.
There is a slight texture difference between the Big Head and the Silver. Silver is a little softer. If I didn't know better I'd say they were a salt water fish in terms of texture.
I also want to try one blackened but I have a wife sensitive to spice and a 4 year old girl so that wont be happening any time soon. Blackening is easy. Get the spices in a can. If you get the "Paul Perdon" just follow the instructions . . . he invented the dish. If not dip the fish in melted butter and dust generously with the spice mix. Think coating no dusting. Flop into a rocket hot cast iron skillet for 2-3 min per side and it should be done. It makes allot of smoke so I do in my grill. You could maybee do it over the coals.
jeez ! now I'm hungry!
Hope the info helps. Eat them all.
Here is a spiel about how to smoke them.
http://www.spearboard.com/showthread.php?t=107828
