Fresh-grained caviar is prepared from the full roe of the female sturgeon. The sturgeons are caught in nets and taken back to the fishery laboratory alive. There they are clubbed and anaesthetized, not killed, and the egg pockets are emptied. The fishermen carefully anaesthetize the fish by hitting them at a specific spot below the head. The roe must be taken while the fish are still alive. If the fish experience the stress of death, they release a chemical into the eggs that spoils the caviar by making it bitter.