In the old times people living in Arkhangelsk had a funny nickname “treskoyeds” or “cod eaters”. And nowadays they stay among the most prominent fish consumers in Russia. According to the state statistical report last year the people of Arkhangelsk region have eaten 32,7 kilos of fish and fish products per head.
Arkhangelsk cod eaters left behind even such fish regions of Russia as Kamchatka (32 kilos per capita), Sakhalin (31,3 kilos) and Murmansk (25,9 kilos). However, chukchi, the indigenous people of Chukotka peninsula, consume almost twice more fish than even Pomors – over 55 kilos per person. But for Chukchi people fish for centuries substituted almost kinds of food.
In the future Pomors have a chance to advance even Chukchi because fish consummation here is growing quite faster - by over 5 percent per year against 3 percent in average in the country. On the other hand, meat keeps sufficiently less place in the daily menu of the Arkhangelsk region inhabitants compared even to the closest neighbors in the Barents region.
Average resident of Murmansk oblast for example consumes 70 kilos of meat per year, in Karelia – 68 kilos, in Komi – 76 kilos while in Arkhangelsk oblast – only 53 kilos. This fact can hardly be explained by different development of animal husbandry in the Russian Barents territories because agricultural sector of Arkhangelsk oblast produce more meat then in neighboring areas.
The only reliable explanation of this case is the long historic tradition based on specific way of life of old Pomors, the cod-eaters.
Text: Andrey Shalyov
