Do Russians eat a lot of caviar?

Many Russian cities have a major river in their vicinity where all kinds of caviar-bearing fish are caught.

During winter, all agricultural activity stops and caviar is usually the only source of protein and vitamins for Russians.

They catch the female fish, slice open it's underbelly, remove the caviar, sew the belly shut and release the fish. The same fish can produce more caviar for 4 or 5 times. When spring arrives and the farms can produce potatoes again, they stop catching the fish for caviar and let the eggs hatch to produce a new generation of fish.

Caviar is eaten every day during winter. In stores, they are even more common than canned tuna. Russians buy tins and cans of caviar and eat them straight out of the can with a spoon or with black bread. During lunchtime in Russia, one can see Russian workers sitting on park benches digging into cans of black or red caviar with small wooden spoons. Office workers prefer black caviar while construction and blue-collar workers like the cheaper red caviar.

Because Russians consume so much caviar, little of it is left for export so Russian caviar sold outside Russia is very expensive.