[russia] caviar in crisis

There's been a lot of talk on the net about Tim Ireland's demise and the naughty Russians.

Sorry but there is a far greater crisis - just what are we going to do without our fish spawn?

Beluga caviar, a symbol of ostentatious dining and luxury, costs about $US1400/kg in Moscow markets but sells for up to £3700/kg in London.

What's going to happen to those prices in the light of this?

Mr Ivanov, widely regarded as a leading contender to succeed President Vladimir Putin in 2008, said he could do without caviar if sturgeon fishing was banned.

"If we banned catches for a period of time then I would certainly survive," Mr Ivanov told an investment conference, RIA news agency reported. "We would repair our national wealth in this time after we so rapaciously annihilated it," Mr Ivanov said.