In a bid to arrest overfishing of high value lobsters and to increase its population, the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) is to being a two-pronged programme to reduce fishing pressure on thse resources. The first approach, according to Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDDA) sources, would aim at enrichment of natural resources through sea ranching. The second approach would be to reduce fishing pressure on the exploited species by encouraging fishermen to go for cage-pen culture of lobsters and increase their growth by fattening them in cages/pens to bring them to marketable size of 500 to 1,000 gm within eight months.