3. Prof. Amir Sagi

Novel husbandry approaches to favor investment of energy on growth in the expense of reproduction and aggressive behavior are suggested by monosex culture biotechnologies. In the aquaculture of the giant prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii two monosex approaches were investigated, all-male culture and all female culture. The first caters for large sized prawns under less dense conditions and the second aims at a uniform aquaculture product under a more intensive husbandry. Both contribute to more sustainable culture due to the fact that it reduces the chances of escapees from the aquaculture operation to become invasive and pose an environmental threat. The possibility of producing a single sex population that could not breed opens also the possibility to sustainably use prawns as biocontrol agents against pest snails in aquaculture, agriculture and even snails that carry human disease vectors. For environmentally safer biocontrol, possible future development of sterile biotechnologies will be discussed.