Caviar sturgeon from the Sea of Azov began reaching the tables of aristocratic and noble Byzantine Greeks in the 10th century, after the commencement of large-scale trading between the Byzantine Empire and Kievan Rus'. The main types of caviar are Beluga, Sterlet, Kaluga hybrid, American osetra, Ossetra, Siberian sturgeon and Sevruga. The rarest and costliest is from beluga sturgeon that swim in the Caspian Sea, which is bordered by Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistan, and Azerbaijan. Wild caviar production was suspended in Russia between 2008 and 2011 to allow wild stocks to replenish. Azerbaijan and Iran also allow the fishing of sturgeon
USS Sterlet (SS-392) in reserve on 18 September 1948 and berthed at Mare Island, California. Just under two years later, on 7 August 1950, "Sterlet" was ordered reactivated. She was recommissioned at Mare Island on 26 August 1950 with Lieutenant Commander George W. Kittredge in command. On 25 September, she headed for San Diego where she conducted a month of training. In December, she shifted to Long Beach, California, where she became one of the stars in the motion picture "Submarine Command" with William Holden and William Bendix. "Sterlet" resumed operations along the West Coast early in 1951 and that employment continued until