Starry sturgeon feeds on fish, worms, crustaceans and mollusks. It lies on the bottom during the day and feeds mostly at night. This fish is anadromous and moves upriver into shallow waters to spawn. The starry sturgeon is an important commercial species of fish. It is one of the three most important species for caviar, see "Sevruga caviar", along with the Beluga sturgeon and the Ossetra sturgeon. Its flesh is considered an expensive delicacy in the Caspian region. It is used to make kabaabs, or is consumed pan fried, broiled, or smoked. There have been several attempts in Russia, Iran, Italy, and
USS Sterlet (SS-392) to the western Pacific with the Seventh Fleet. On these cruises, usually of approximately six months duration, she participated in a host of exercises and war game problems and visited most major ports in the Far East, particularly those in Japan, Taiwan, China and in some of the Central Pacific islands. After her return from her final deployment in the summer of 1968, "Sterlet" was found to be unfit for further naval service. Accordingly, she was decommissioned on 30 September 1968, and her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on the following day. She rendered her last service