Invasive species
The use in animal feeding of invasive snails species such as the golden apple snail is a way to control their development and limit their environmental impact.
Ducks are commonly used for the biological control of apple snails in paddies and taro patches. Both Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) and Muscovy ducks (Cairina moschata) are used although the former is preferred by farmers (Serra, 1997). Ducks can be introduced to the fields after harvest and be removed from it before rice transplanting, or they can be introduced to the paddies three weeks after transplanting. Duck stocking rates suggested for snail control are highly variable, ranging from 5-10 ducks/ha in Malaysia (Teo, 2001) to 200, 400 and even 900 ducks/ha in the Philippines (Pantua et al., 1992; Vega, 1991; Cagauan, 1999; Cagauan et al., 2002a). In China, young ducks readily eat young snails (hatchlings and juveniles) weighing less than 1.5 g, while 60 day old ducks are the main predators of older and adult snails (1.5 g to over 6.5 g) (Kaiming Liang et al., 2013).
Fish have also been assessed as potential control agents (Cagauan et al., 2002b; Halwart, 2006).
Soil improver
Apple snail shells can improve acidic soils by adding lime to them.