Global innovation award for University of Stirling researcher’s shrimp project
UNIVERSITY of Stirling postdoctoral researcher Simão Zacarias has been named as the winner of the Global Aquaculture Alliance’s Innovation Award for 2020.
Zacarias edged out two other finalists — Pablo Berner of Nuseed and Mark Luecke of Prairie AquaTech — to win the competition, which was sponsored by Lineage Logistics.All three finalists were featured in GAA’s Global Aquaculture Advocate in September and presented on October 8 at GAA’s GOAL
2020 conference, held virtually for the first time ever this year.
Zacarias’ work zeroed in on the common — and, in animal-welfare circles, contentious — shrimphatchery practice of unilateral eyestalk ablation. His research debunked the notion that the practice results in higher egg production and showed that it actually escalates disease vulnerability. Zacarias proved in laboratory testing that postlarvae and juveniles from nonablated Pacific white shrimp broodstock showed higher survival rates when they were challenged with two key diseases. He 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 honour to win this prestigious award, mainly as the first African to get it. This award reminds me to never give up in chasing my dreams even when they seem impossible,” said Zacarias.“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.”