ir. LFM (Luc) Visser

As a fish ecologist, I am intrigued by measures that are taken to create suitable habitats for fish in aquatic ecosystems that are heavily modified by humans. I am currently a PhD candidate at the Aquaculture and Fisheries Group (AFI). Within my PhD, I aim to evaluate restoration measures that have been (and still are) implemented in the downstream sandy Meuse (Zandmaas), a section of the river Meuse between Roermond and Cuijck. This river stretch has experienced many human modifications, including the introduction of several weirs. These modifications tend to greatly affect the dynamics of fish populations, which is particularly the case for rheophilic fish species, a fish guild that depends on flowing water to complete its life cycle (such as barbel, nase and common dace). In this research, I strive to determine which life stages form a bottleneck for rheophilic fish in this river section, and which restoration measures have the potential to help fish overcome these bottlenecks. Ultimately, this could provide valuable insights into the complete life cycle of different rheophilic fish species in this river stretch and contribute to the optimization of restoration measures for fish in large rivers over the world.   

My direct supervisor is Dr. Ir. Leo Nagelkerke