Gar meat is edible, but is extremely bony and rarely consumed. Gar eggs are highly toxic to humans.
Years ago I heard a radio guy in Fl talk about how to cook a Gar.
He said place it on a soaked board,plaster it with salt pepper garlic onions and bake at 450 for 3 hours.
Take it out scrape it off the board and eat the board as it will be better than the gar would ever be.
Or something like that??
Ouch !
So we should use them to take out the invasive species, then once that goal is accomplished, keep them regulated and controlled.
Like any other species.
My father told me a similar story about carp when I was a kid in the 50s. He heard it from a guy in the 20s. It involved feces as filler and you threw away the carp and ate the scat and the board.
Cajuns make fish balls using gar meat. Is not a desirable fish, but Cajuns know how to make use of everything. Gar balls aren’t too bad.
http://www.realcajuncooking.com/2010/04/cooking-garfish.html
I haven’t tried the smoked gar but imagine it would be like smoked chubs.