T he words chornaya ikra—"black caviar"—have recently acquired an illicit ring in the Volga River-delta town of Astrakhan, the caviar capital of Russia if not of the planet.(Three quarters of ...

Astrakhan, on the Volga River, once was known as Russia's caviar capital — but no more. ... Russia banned all commercial sturgeon fishing in the area and the export of all black caviar.

Black caviar is one of the most famous and expensive delicacies in the world. On average, a 250-gram jar costs $130. ... became the Khan of the Astrakhan Khanate.

In 1960, the year Mydans visited the Astrakhan Fish and Can and Refrigeration Complex, 93% of the world’s yield of “osetr” and “beluga” caviar came from the Soviet Union.

To be precise, it was black caviar, ... Criminal gangs began operating in and around Astrakhan, Russia's main Caspian port. Shadowy figures arrived at villages to buy caviar from locals.

The relentless hunt for the so-called "Tsar fish" has acquired such huge proportions in post-Soviet Russia that the creature that outlived the dinosaurs is not on the edge of extinction.

Although I try to keep up with the news over at the online trade publication Meat Trade News Daily, this bit of news from April 24 seemed to pass me by. Turns out Russian food engineers have figured ...

ASTRAKHAN (dpa) – A recent decision by the U.N. body CITES to lift a ban on caviar exports from post-Soviet Caspian countries has drawn strong protests from experts who work with the beluga.

Scientists from the Russian region of Astrakhan helped the Uruguayans establish that farm. They sell their local black caviar in the United States and Argentina for around 3,000 USD per kilogram.

As glum Russian fishermen haul in their net, just two small sturgeon are splashing about among the daily catch.