MOSCOW, April 8. /TASS/. Africa is interested in the cooperative work with Russia on studies of fish and shellfish resources near its shores, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the meeting with head of the Federal Agency for Fisheries Ilya Shestakov.

The Agency is preparing for a large-scale expedition to explore fish resources in African countries and discussions are underway now, Shestakov said. The expedition will start in the second half of this year, he noted.

"Yes, our friends asked for that and they are interested in joint work," Putin noted.

The Russian side will take African researchers on board and will share with them all the data that will be found, Shestakov said in its turn.

The big African expedition will comprise two ones, each of which will last for more than a year. Studies will cover water areas from Morocco to Angola and the western part of the Indian Ocean near coasts of certain countries.