AGADIR, February 7. /TASS/. Russian fishermen in the Central and East Atlantic, a rich fishing zone off the coast of Africa, reel in a catch of about 100,000 metric tons per year, deputy director of the Russian Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography Konstantin Bandurin told TASS.
"Russia plans to scale up cooperation in the fishing industry with such countries as Morocco, Mauritania, Senegal, Nigeria, South Africa, Mauritius, Mozambique, and other countries interested in building up equal and mutually beneficial relations," the expert said. "The coastal waters of Northwest Africa - known as the Central and East Atlantic fisheries region under the FAO classification, is rich with marine life, making it ideal for fishing," he noted.
"In recent years, the Russian fleet in the Central and East Atlantic has been catching about 100,000 metric tons annually. Russia started fishing the area in the 1950s-60s and continues to date. The main targets for Russian fisheries are large schools of finfish (horse mackerel, bonito, sardinella and sardine)," Bandurin noted.