Lindsay Margaret Laird (2 September 1949 – 2 August 2001) was a British biologist who was influential in the development of the aquaculture of salmon and other fishes through her research, teaching and the books that she produced.
During her time at Cambridge a brown hairy moth from Borneo (Dasychira lairdi) was named after her.
Laird began her career in 1975 at the University of Stirling Aquatic Pathobiology Unit, on a Shell Fellowship.
She also published key papers on basic techniques now considered routine: freeze branding of juvenile salmon, and benzocaine as a fish anaesthetic.
The following year she obtained Nuffield Foundation funding for a project at Aberdeen University on methods of inducing auto-immune rejection of fish gonads.
[4] She foresaw the need to control of the life cycle of salmon in captivity in order to make production more predictable and also more profitable.
She joined the Scottish Fisheries Committee the next year, monitoring effects of the electricity industry on salmon and other fisheries, and was also invited by Shetland Salmon Farming Association to advise on the Braer oil pollution spill.
[5] Beyond Scotland, from 1992 she was involved in EU education and training programmes FORCE, COMETT, ERASMUS and LEONARDO.
Between 1992 and 1997 she spent periods of time at the Danum Valley Research Centre, Sabah, funded by the Royal Society and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), and on aquaculture and fisheries projects in Sarawak, Philippines, Taiwan and Singapore.
[5] In 1994 she worked in the Kola Peninsula, Russia, journeying across the tundra near Murmansk in Russian ex-military helicopters to report on salmon fishing for the British Council.
In 1997 she was UK delegate on the EU ALFA project, visiting fish farms in Chile.
1992: Fellowship, Institute of Fisheries Management, (Training Committee) 1992: Director of AquaTT, Irish Aquaculture Training Partnership 1993: Board of Directors, Lakeland Marine Farm Ltd 1994-2000: Board member of European Aquaculture Society (EAS)[5] 1997-2001: Board member, AMC Ltd. Ireland[5] 1998: first Chairman, Organic Fish Producers Association[5] Laird L.M.
The development of the gonadal and immune systems of the Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) and a consideration of the possibility of inducing autoimmune destruction of the testis.
Lesions observed in the testis of precociously maturing male Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar L. J.Fish Biol.
Field trials of a method of induction of autoimmune gonad rejection in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) Reprod.
Experimentally induced immune reactions to gonad in rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri).
Appearance of autoantigens during gonad maturation in the rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri).
The long-term effects of auto-immunologically induced granulomas on the testes of rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri, Richardson).
The role of autoantibodies in the autoimmune response to testis in rainbow trout (Salmo gairdneri).
ITE/NERC publication, Ed Jenkins D., 66-72 Noack P, McLay, HA, Noble LR & Laird L.M.
Carotenoid pigments as a means for differentiating eggs and offspring of anadromous and non-anadromous trout.
Carotenoid pigment profiles distinguish anadromous and nonanadromous brown trout (Salmo trutta).
Carotenoids of sea lice (Lepeophtheirus salmonis) as potential indicators of host Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.).
Depauperate freshwater fish communities in Sabah: the role of barriers to movement and habitat quality.
Development and Operation of Quality Standards for Farmed Atlantic Salmon, Salmo salar L: A Case Study.
Impact of the quality movement on salmon farming in Scotland and the development of standards for Organic Aquaculture.
Salmon Advisory Committee technical reports: Factors affecting emigrating smolts and returning adults (1993).
Notes of a stereological technique for the estimation of the number of oocytes in the ovary of mackerel (Scomber scombrus).
Proceedings of the Institute of Fisheries Management 22nd Annual Study Course, University of Aberdeen.
Abstracts of contributions presented at the International Conference Aquaculture Europe 99 Trondheim Norway.