Mozambique's Simao Zacarias has won the Global Aquaculture Alliance's (GAA) 2020 Global Aquaculture Innovation Award, after showing how non-ablation improves farmed shrimp resistance to disease.
Eyestalk ablation, which is contentious among those supporting animal welfare, involves the removal of one or both eyestalks from a crustacean. It is practiced on female shrimp with the aim of stimulating the female shrimp to develop mature ovaries and spawn.
Zacarias debunked the notion that the practice results in higher egg production and showed that it actually increases vulnerability to disease.
He proved in laboratory testing that postlarvae and juveniles from non-ablated Pacific white shrimp broodstock showed higher survival rates when they were exposed to two key diseases.
Zacarias also proved that a similar egg production rate can be attained without resorting to eyestalk ablation by giving broodstock, in their pre-maturation stage, high quality, nutritious feed.
“It is an honor to win this prestigious award, mainly as the first African to get it," Zacharias said.
“I also think that this award is a direct message to the shrimp and aquaculture industry as a whole to keep adopting stronger animal welfare practices.”
