Buckland Foundation


Francis Trevelyan Buckland, better known as Frank Buckland, was an English surgeon, zoologist, natural historian, prolific writer, campaigner against river pollution, and researcher on fish-culture and fish farming.
The Buckland Foundation is a charity endowed from Buckland's estate. It funds a 'Buckland Professor' each year to give public talks throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland on matters of current concern in the commercial fisheries or aquaculture industry, as well as acting as custodian for the 'Buckland Collection'.
Frank and his father William Buckland, were determined to do all that they could to improve the diet of the poor. Frank was especially impressed by the potential of the lightly-exploited fisheries of the Victorian era to supply cheap and nutritious food. He was among the first naturalists to realise that making the most of the resources of the sea would require a comprehensive understanding of the biology of the main commercial species and of the world that they inhabited.
Frank was made 'Fish Culturist to the Queen' in 1865. He was appointed as one of two Inspectors of Salmon Fisheries in the Home Office in 1867. He took part in four Commissions of Inquiry into the sea fisheries of England, Wales and Scotland and in doing so also covered white fish, herring and shellfish. The 1878 Commission required Buckland to investigate whether beam trawlers caused wasteful destruction of spawn and as a result were leading to a decline in the supply of fish. One of the recommendations was that "Inspectors should be required to collect statistical and other information and use this to report annually to Parliament on the condition of fisheries", thereby instigating the first systematic fisheries data collection in the United Kingdom.

Museum of Economic Fish Culture

Buckland founded a Museum of Economic Fish Culture in South Kensington in 1865. This aimed to inform the public about the fish of the British Isles and their fisheries, and he continued to work on this for the rest of his life. The remaining contents of Buckland's collection are now held by the Scottish Fisheries Museum in Anstruther. These include 45 plaster casts, some of which were hand-painted by the noted garden designer and artist Gertrude Jekyll, and an 1882 marble bust of Buckland by John Warrington Wood. The Scottish Fisheries Museum is also the registered office of the Buckland Foundation.
Two of Buckland's particular enthusiasms were public aquaria and fisheries exhibitions. In 1866 Buckland attended fisheries exhibitions in Arcachon and in Boulogne-Sur-Mer and was awarded medals for his exhibits. Two further exhibitions were held in the Netherlands in 1867 and Buckland was awarded a Diploma of Honour for his contribution. He endeavoured to arouse interest in one being held in Britain but was not successful in this aim until 1881, when a 'National Fisheries Exhibition' was held in the city of Norwich.

Buckland Professors and Lectures

Buckland Professors are appointed annually by a board of trustees. A complete list of Buckland Professors and their lecture subjects is provided below.
Source:
Buckland ProfessorYearLecture subject
Walter Garstang1930Frank Buckland's Life and Work
W.L.Calderwood1931Salmon Hatching and Salmon Migrations
H Wood1932The Natural History of the Herring in Scottish Waters
W.C.Hodgson1933The Natural History of the Herring in the Southern North Sea
C.F Hickling1934The Hake and the Hake Fishery
J.H.Orton1935Oyster Biology and Oyster Culture
E.Ford1936The Nation's Fish Supply
T.E.Pryce Tarrant1937Fish Passes
J.B.Tait1938Hydrography in Relation to Fisheries
Michael Graham1939Rational Fishing of the Cod in the North Sea
W.J.Menzies1947The Stock of Salmon, its Migrations, Preservation and Improvement
G.T.Atkinson1948Sea Fisheries
R.S.Wimpenny1949The Plaice
H.D.Turing1950River Pollution
J.R.Lumby1951Fishery Hydrography
F.T.K.Pentalow1952River Purification
A.E.J.Went1953Irish Salmon and Salmon Fisheries
H.A.Cole1954Inshore Fisheries
B.B.Parrish1956The Haddock
A.P.Orr1957Plankton
A.R.Bennett1958Lemon Sole
R.Balls1959Fish Capture
R.J.H.Beverton1960Historical Background of International Organisations for Regulating Fisheries, their achievements so far, and prospects for the future
N.A.Mackintosh1961The Stocks of Whales
M.E.Varley1963British Freshwater Fishes
G.H.O.Burgess1964Developments in the Handling and Processing of Fish
H.J.Thomas & A.C.Simpson1965The Lobster - its biology and fishery
D.G Tucker1966Sonar in Fisheries - a forward look
P.R.Walne1967The Artificial Cultivation of Shellfish
A.J.Lee1969Ocean Currents and their Influence on Fisheries
C.C.Hemmings1970Fish, Nets and Men - An Underwater Approach to Fisheries Research
F.R Harden Jones1971Behaviour and the Fisheries
K.A.Pyefinch1974Exploitation of the Salmon Stocks
E.Edwards1977The Edible Crab and its Fishery
J.J.Connell & R.Hardy1979Maximum Use of British Aquatic Food Resources
J.Mason1980Scallop and Queen Fisheries in the British Isles
A.Preston & P.C.Wood1981Marine Pollution and its Effect on Fisheries
G.Eddie1982Engineering, Economics and Fisheries Management
G.Buchan1983A Story of the Herring
S.J.Lockwood1984Mackerel – its biology, assessment and the management of a fishery
R.J.Roberts1985Aquaculture
C.Chapman1987The Norway Lobster
C.T.Macer1988North Sea Cod
W.M.Shearer1989Atlantic Salmon
R.Lloyd1990Pollution and Freshwater fisheries
M.J.Holden1991The Common Fisheries Policy: Past, Present and Future
R.Bailey1992Industrial Fisheries, Fish Stocks and Seabirds
S.Gubbay1993Marine Protected Areas and Fisheries
J.D.M.Gordon1994Deep-Sea Fisheries: a new resource?
B.E.Spencer1995Bivalve Cultivation in the UK: structuring influences
J.S.Gray1996Protecting the seas: using science for a better environment
JP.Holligan1997Global Change in the Coastal Zone - implications for fisheries
M.Angel1998The Deep Ocean: Use and Misuse
C.Moriarty1999The European Eel
D.Symes2000Integrated fisheries management – a challenge for the Common Fisheries Policy
C.P.Reid2001Plankton and Fisheries
R Ferro2002Fish Conservation and the design of fishing gear
J Goodlad2003Fishing and Fish Farming - are they conflicting or complementary industries?
J Addison2004Science and the management of the United Kingdom's Crab Fisheries
J.Armstrong2005The conservation of Salmon habitat
B Deas2006Regional Advisory Councils and the Future of Fisheries Policy
W Turrell2007Climate change and Scottish Fisheries
M.Beveridge2008Aquaculture, the Blue Revolution?
D Righton2009Cod in the North Sea
R Uglow2010Crustacean transport
A Walker2011Variation amongst brown trout and sea trout
I.L. Boyd2012Future Approaches to Fisheries Science
S. Holt2013Why Maximum Sustainable Yield ?
M.Windsor2014Managing migratory fish by international treaty: the strengths and weaknesses
Colin Bannister2015Has EU fisheries management achieved stock recovery?
Felicity Huntingford2016How smart are fish and why does this matter to fishers?
Paul Hart2017Stewards of the Sea: Returning Power to Fishers
Ronald Campbell2018The History of Salmon Management in the British Isles
Lucy Hawkes2019Atlantic Bluefin Tuna: Superfish of the Oceans
Steven Mackinson2021-22Resurrection: the fall and rise of industry participation in fisheries science.