Modelled effects of prawn aquaculture on poverty alleviation and schistosomiasis control

Christopher M. Hoover, Susanne H. Sokolow, Jonas Kemp, James Sanchirico (), Andrea J. Lund, Isabel J. Jones, Tyler Higginson, Gilles Riveau, Amit Savaya, Shawn Coyle, Chelsea L. Wood, Fiorenza Micheli, Renato Casagrandi, Lorenzo Mari, Marino Gatto, Andrea Rinaldo, Javier Perez-Saez, Jason R. Rohr, Amir Sagi, Justin V. Remais and Giulio A. De Leo ()
Additional contact information
Christopher M. Hoover: University of California Berkeley, School of Public Health
Susanne H. Sokolow: Stanford University
Jonas Kemp: Stanford University
Andrea J. Lund: Stanford University
Isabel J. Jones: Stanford University
Tyler Higginson: Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey
Gilles Riveau: EPLS Biomedical Research Center
Amit Savaya: Ben Gurion University of the Negev
Shawn Coyle: Kentucky State University
Chelsea L. Wood: University of Washington
Fiorenza Micheli: Stanford University
Renato Casagrandi: Politecnico di Milano
Lorenzo Mari: Politecnico di Milano
Marino Gatto: Politecnico di Milano
Andrea Rinaldo: Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
Javier Perez-Saez: Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
Jason R. Rohr: University of Notre Dame
Amir Sagi: Ben Gurion University of the Negev
Justin V. Remais: University of California Berkeley, School of Public Health
Giulio A. De Leo: Stanford University

Nature Sustainability, 2019, vol. 2, issue 7, 611-620

Abstract: Abstract Recent evidence suggests that snail predators may aid efforts to control the human parasitic disease schistosomiasis by eating aquatic snail species that serve as intermediate hosts of the parasite. Here, potential synergies between schistosomiasis control and aquaculture of giant prawns are evaluated using an integrated bioeconomic–epidemiological model. Combinations of stocking density and aquaculture cycle length that maximize cumulative, discounted profit are identified for two prawn species in sub-Saharan Africa: the endemic, non-domesticated Macrobrachium vollenhovenii and the non-native, domesticated Macrobrachium rosenbergii. At profit-maximizing densities, both M. rosenbergii and M. vollenhovenii may substantially reduce intermediate host snail populations and aid schistosomiasis control efforts. Control strategies drawing on both prawn aquaculture to reduce intermediate host snail populations and mass drug administration to treat infected individuals are found to be superior to either strategy alone. Integrated aquaculture-based interventions can be a win–win strategy in terms of health and sustainable development in schistosomiasis endemic regions of the world.

Date: 2019
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DOI: 10.1038/s41893-019-0301-7

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