Sir Cyril Edward Lucas (30 July 1909 – 14 January 2002) was a British marine biologist. He was Director of Fisheries Research in Scotland for 22 years. He was an expert on

plankton Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms found in Hydrosphere, water (or atmosphere, air) that are unable to propel themselves against a Ocean current, current (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are called plankt ...

and helped to develop the Continuous Plankton Recorder in 1931. He was also noted for his work on establishing fish stocks in the North Sea and was one of the first to suggest fish quotas to preserve stocks.

Early life and education

He was born in Hull, the son of Archibald Lucas. He was educated at

Hull Grammar School Hull Grammar School was a secondary school in Hull, England, founded around 1330 and endowed in 1479 by the prelate John Alcock. In 1988, as part of a restructure by the Local Education Authority, the site was renamed William Gee School. Meanw ...

then studied Science at

University College, Hull , mottoeng = Bearing the Torch f learning, established = 1927 – University College Hull1954 – university status , type = Public , endowment = £18.8 million (2016) , budget = £190 million ...

, working under Prof

Alister Hardy Sir Alister Clavering Hardy (10 February 1896 – 22 May 1985) was an English marine biologist, an expert on marine ecosystems spanning organisms from zooplankton to whales. He had the artistic skill to illustrate his books with his own drawings ...

. He did further postgraduate studies at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

gaining a DSc in 1942.

Career

He was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

in 1939. His proposers were

Alexander Charles Stephen Dr Alexander Charles Stephen FRSE PRPSE (17 December 1893 – 3 June 1966) was a 20th-century Scottish zoologist. Life He was born on 17 December 1893 in Garvock manse, near Laurencekirk in Aberdeenshire the son of Rev William Stephen. He was educ ...

James Ritchie James Ritchie may refer to: * James Ritchie (rugby union) (1907–1942), Scottish international rugby union player * James Ritchie (naturalist) (1882–1958), President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh * James Ritchie (Massachusetts politician) (1 ...

Charles Henry O'Donoghue Charles Henry O'Donoghue FRSE FZS (23 September 1885 – 28 November 1961) was an English zoologist who studied molluscs, a malacologist. His publications mostly deal with sea slugs and he also named a number of Bryozoans. A collection of over 700 ...

, and

Daniel Owen Morgan Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew language, Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel (given ...

. He won the Society's Neill Prize for the period 1957–59 and served as the Society's Vice President 1961 to 1964. In 1942, he was appointed Head of the Oceanography Department at

. In 1948, he went to Scotland as Director of the Marine Research Unit at

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

. In 1955 he was involved heavily in the relocation of the laboratory to

Torry Torry is an area within the city of Aberdeen, Scotland. Torry’s origins People have been living in Torry since at least the 12th century. The place name first appears in written records in 1484 and was erected a Burgh of barony by Royal Cha ...

. In 1958 he additionally took responsibility of the Freshwater Fisheries Laboratory at

Pitlochry Pitlochry (; gd, Baile Chloichridh or ) is a town in the Perth and Kinross council area of Scotland, lying on the River Tummel. It is historically in the county of Perthshire, and has a population of 2,776, according to the 2011 census.Scotla ...

. He retired from both posts in 1970. He was made a Fellow of the

Royal Society of London The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

in 1966. He received honorary doctorates from Hull University in 1975 (DSc) and

Aberdeen University , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...

in 1977 (LLD). He was knighted in the

1976 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1976 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced on 1 January 1976 to celebra ...

. He died in

on 14 January 2002.

Family

In 1934, he married Sarah Agnes Rose (known as Sallie), who died in 1974. They had two sons, John and Andrew, and a daughter, Alison.

Publications

*''A Select Bibliography on Biology'' (1937) *''Fisheries: Penalties and Rewards'' (1966) *''International Fishery Bodies of the North Atlantic'' (1970)

References

1909 births 2002 deaths People from Kingston upon Hull Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellows of the Royal Society Knights Bachelor 20th-century non-fiction writers {{Scotland-bio-stub