PhD - Zander in canals – where, what and how?

Background

This project will aim to understand the where, what and how’s of the Zander invasion within the UK’s canals networks with respect to assessing and optimising the current management regime for the Canal and River Trust, determining ecological impact, and the possible use for removed biomass. This work will be co-developed and will directly inform the Canal and River Trust for future management planning.

Zander (Sander lucioperca) are large bodied, piscivorous fish native to central and eastern Europe. Since being introduced to totally enclosed lakes for recreational angling in the 1870’s, populations have slowly spread anthropogenically throughout some canal and river networks. The time and cost associated with management of these populations is relatively high and the effectiveness of the investment is not currently optimised.

Recreational fishing is an under assessed food subsidy, and given that Zander are a large bodied predator, there is likely a subset of the community already utilising them for food. The Canal & River Trust remove Zander from the canals during their annual management programme. and this may be an opportunity for a sustainable use through conversion to food products or fertiliser but must first be assessed for health risk.

Where

O1) Using a mix of historical records from the Canal & River Trust fisheries team, iNaturalist, published records and interviews with angling clubs, we will reconstruct the spread of Zander through the canals network to understand spread rate and assess whether certain biotic and abiotic parameters are related to establishment and spread. We will use this to predict future spread, combining these with anthropogenic predictors, and hotspots of risk areas to prioritise management efforts.

O2) During electrofishing removal of Zander, we will apply a fisheries perspective and assess relative abundance, age and growth, body condition at the range edge and range core to determine whether certain traits are exhibited at the invasion front. As Zander are not actively manage zander within the ‘core’ range this may provide a natural experiment to assess selective processes of harvesting on the population. Overall, this will help us understand selection processes on the population and target individuals with certain traits (i.e. juveniles or large females).

O3) We will compare population dynamics and trends across sites with different management regimes to assess responses to perturbation and understand long term artificial selective processes.

What

O4) We will address ecological impact of Zander on native species through gut content analysis, dietary metabarcoding, and stable isotope analysis to better understand food web implications and selectivity of prey. We will determine effect of Zander, and Zander abundance, on native species community assemblage to determine critical limits of Zander abundance on ecological disruption. This will be used to aid Canal & River Trust in its approach to fisheries management.

O5) We will assess whether Zander are accumulating contaminants of health concern

How

O6) We will collate economic cost data for Zander management across the UK canal network to determine gross economic burden and how this will change in the future to predict budget needs. Using findings from across the project we will assess various management regimes to co-develop a cost effective and efficient management plan with the Canal & River Trust.

Training

You will benefit from a broad range of supervisor expertise on aquatic biological invasions (Josie South), spatial modelling and canal ecology (Chris Hassall), ecotoxicology (Laura Carter), fisheries management and ecology (John Ellis). You will join vibrant lab groups and have the opportunity to engage with vocational training in fish identification, electrofishing, power boat licensing, alongside statistical training. You will be part of Water@Leeds and have access to interdisciplinary support across the board. Canal & River Trust will provide bespoke on the job training and integration into their organisation.

Candidate specifications

Must like fish, fishing, and working with fish!

An excellent BSc degree (1st or high 2.1) in biology/ecology/zoology and a MSc with Distinction (or equivalent) that is relevant to fisheries management and biological invasions; excellent communicator with skills and interest in quantitative approaches and fisheries are key. Experience in R stats and modelling desirable, publications viewed as a plus. Driving license and willingness and ability to work outside and near water is necessary for this position as it will involve travel and fieldwork within the UK.

For more information please get in touch with Josie South ([email protected])