Lab lobster: Corsican institute hopes breeding can solve overfishing

Researchers at Stella Mare believe they have cracked the secret of captive breeding - and can save the island's artisanal fisheries

Inside a white-walled laboratory, an assistant dons rubber gloves and lowers a net into a water-filled tank taking up half the room. In a corner lurks a lobster. As the net approaches, the animal hurtles to the other side of the tank and back again. It evades capture for some time until it is finally caught and lifted out - only to stubbornly grip the net with its claws and plunge back into the water.

It's a very resilient creature," says Jean-Jose Filippi, an engineer at the Stella Mare laboratory. These lobsters won't be caught willingly. But they still need our help if they are going to survive."