The Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (MOMAF) said Monday that it is poised to launch a fisheries studies in the Indian Ocean at the end of this month. Under the plan the ministry will dispatch a vessel designed for deep sea probes to the reported area in order to identify the geographical distribution of "Orange Roughy," a fish usually found at depths of 200-1,800 meters. The ship will study numbers of fish, the ecosystem, and the biological features of the fish. Orange Roughy is used as raw materials for cosmetics and medicine, retailing at up to 10,000 US dollars per ton in Australia and the United States. In particular, the ministry is considering sending some local North Sea trawlers to the area from next year as cuts in the total admissible captures by Russia start to bite. Other nations, including New Zealand, Australia, Russia, Japan and the United States, are conducting investigations in the area but little is known regarding the geographical distribution of the fish. After running preliminary fisheries operations in the area last year, the ministry confirmed the area has economic value.