Douglas Ferrier Stewart (D.F.S.) Raitt was born in 1935 in Aberdeen Northern District, following in his father's footsteps as a fishery scientist. DFS Raitt obtained a Ph.D. for research on the Norway pout (Trisopterus esmarkii) from the University of Aberdeen in 1967 and subsequently worked at the Marine Laboratory, Aberdeen and at the Food and Agriculture Organisation in Rome.

Conducting numerous research expeditions on the Explorer, DFS Raitt published over 60 journals and books on the Manual of fisheries science to the Methods of resource investigation and their application well into the 1980s. DFS Raitt married Violet Catto in 1959 in Aberdeen as Douglas F. S. Raitt and their son Ferrier Wiliam Raitt was born in 1960.

His father was Douglas Stewart Raitt (1903–1944) who was born in Aberdeen on 18th January 1903 and educated at Robert Gordon's College, Aberdeen (Russell, 1945). A triple graduate of the University of Aberdeen (B.Sc. 1926; Ph.D. 1930; D.Sc. 1937), he married Jane Ferrier on 2nd November 1932 (Mackintosh, 1960). Before the Second World War, he served on the staff of the Marine Laboratory of the Fishery Board for Scotland, Aberdeen. Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1936 and was seconded to the Home Security Department and appointed assistant for the Highlands. 

Later, he went on to hold a similar post in the Edinburgh and South-east of Scotland area, ending-up as principal assistant to District Commissioner Sir John Phin (1881–1955) obtaining a Ph.D. for research on the Norway pout (Trisopterus esmarkii) from the University of Aberdeen in 1967 and subsequently working at the Marine Laboratory, Aberdeen and at the Food and Agriculture Organisation in Rome.