Understanding the impacts and benefits of offshore wind on fish in the Greater North Sea

Project Description:

This PhD scholarship is offered by the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Offshore Wind Energy Sustainability and Resilience; a partnership between the Universities of Durham, Hull, Loughborough and Sheffield. The project is supported by industry partner, the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science. The successful applicant will undertake six-months of training with the rest of the CDT cohort at the University of Hull before continuing their PhD research at Hull. The project is part of a research cluster focusing on understanding environmental impacts and consequences.

This project aims to better understand the long-term temporal impacts and benefits of offshore wind (OSW) on fish distribution and movements across large spatial scales, with a focus on the Greater North Sea region. The novelty of this study lies in drawing together the temporal (past, present and future) and spatial scales (the Greater North Sea), the incorporation of biotelemetry data, and the consideration of both marine and diadromous fishes.

Harvesting renewable energy from winds, currents, tides, and waves is a relatively new human activity that can impact marine ecosystems. For some pressures the environmental impact is not well understood, requiring specific research to ensure environmental sustainability. Wind turbines and associated power cable infrastructure introduces pressures on marine ecosystems during construction (e.g., pile driving and cable laying) and operation, introduce physical infrastructure to the ocean, alter the water currents, and emit electromagnetic fields, along with elevated vessel traffic, which produces noise and collision risk for some animals (Gill et al., 2020). Using acoustic telemetry, we can gather pre-development baseline spatiotemporal animal movement data. In fact, Ingram et al. (2019) suggested that acoustic telemetry should be a prerequisite to evaluate the impact of an offshore wind (OSW) energy development to mitigate its potential negative impacts on the endangered Atlantic sturgeon, Acipenser oxyrinchus.

Once constructed, human-made infrastructures can also provide physical habitat for fish aggregation, influencing local biodiversity and potentially ecosystem functioning. Reubens et al. (2013, 2014) used acoustic telemetry and stomach content analysis to identify a seasonal preference to wind farms related to feeding but also shelter from currents and predators in a commercially important fish in the North Sea. More recently, acoustic telemetry studies have revealed significant impacts of seismic surveys, shipping, and wind farm noise on fish behavioural patterns and potential effects on population survival and fisheries productivity (e.g., van der Knaap et al., 2021, 2022). However, we still do not fully understand the magnitude of the current impact of OSW construction and operation and the best way to implement scientifically informed effective solutions.

Notwithstanding, windfarms also have the potential to provide direct and indirect environmental benefits, including providing protection and refuge areas for certain species and life stages of fish, especially where commercial fishing is restricted from accessing inside the windfarm. There is also increasing awareness on the requirement for OSW to incorporate projects that could promote nature recovery from a disturbed state, such as fish refuges and artificial reefs, to assist in improving the potential benefits of the new infrastructure. Furthermore, in the North Sea 2016-2021 Policy Memorandum, it has been recommended to open OSW farms to shared use, such as marine aquaculture (including seafood and seaweed), other forms of renewable energy generation and storage (including solar or tidal energy) and passive fishing (including crab traps and lobster creels). Whilst still at early stages, they may influence the prevailing fish communities relative to before construction and areas outside the windfarm.

The collaboration with CEFAS will allow access to data that will supplement other publicly available traditional fish survey and environmental data, such as bathymetry, temperature and benthic habitat, to reveal habitat associations. The PhD will also link the successful student with leading authorities on understanding fish interactions with OSW farms in Belgium, France, Norway and The Netherlands using acoustic telemetry. Doing so will provide connections to projects with complementary research objectives at partner institutions, such as the FISH INTEL project.

Training and development

You will benefit from a taught programme, giving you a broad understanding of the breadth and depth of current and emerging offshore wind sector needs. This begins with an intensive six-month programme at the University of Hull for the new student intake, drawing on the expertise and facilities of all four academic partners. It is supplemented by Continuing Professional Development (CPD), which is embedded throughout your 4-year research scholarship.

The student will be trained in acoustic telemetry data collection and analysis, species distribution analytical methods, GIS and statistical analysis. They will become a Home Office personal licence holder to tag fish. They will be trained in Personal Survival Techniques (Humber Offshore Training Association) and pass a medical to work offshore.

Entry requirements

If you have received a First-class Honours degree, or a 2:1 Honours degree and a Masters, or a Distinction at Masters level with any undergraduate degree (or the international equivalents) in biosciences, environmental sciences, or geography, we would like to hear from you.

For more information about the project, please email Dr Jon Bolland via J.Bolland@hull.ac.uk. For enquiries about the CDT, please email auracdt@hull.ac.uk.

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Funding

The CDT is funded by the EPSRC, allowing us to provide scholarships that cover fees plus a stipend set at the UKRI nationally agreed rates. These have been set by UKRI as £20,780 per annum at 2025/26 rates and will increase in line with the EPSRC guidelines for the subsequent years (subject to progress).

Eligibility

Our funded Doctoral Scholarships are available to UK Students. The advertised CDT scholarships in this current recruitment round are available to Home (UK) Students only as the CDT has reached the annual cap, set by the funding council (UKRI EPSRC), on international student recruitment for the 2025 intake. To be considered a Home student, and therefore eligible for a full award, a student must have no restrictions on how long they can stay in the UK and have been ordinarily resident in the UK for at least 3 years prior to the start of the scholarship (with some further constraint regarding residence for education). 

Guaranteed Interview Scheme

The CDT is committed to generating a diverse and inclusive training programme and is looking to attract applicants from all backgrounds. We offer a Guaranteed Interview Scheme for home fee status candidates who identify as Black or Black mixed or Asian or Asian mixed if they meet the programme entry requirements. This positive action is to support recruitment of these under-represented ethnic groups to our programme and is an opt in process.

Find out more

How to apply

Please ensure that you familiarise yourself with the Aura CDT website before you apply to give you a good understanding of what a CDT is, our CDT’s research focus and the training and continuing professional development programme that runs alongside the CDT. The Frequently asked questions page and Candidate resources page are essential reading prior to applying.  

 Applications are open until Friday 9 May 2025 

Applications to this project are made via the University of Hull admissions system. If you have not applied to the University of Hull before, you will need to set up an account to enable you to track the progress of your application and upload supporting documents.  

Follow the appropriate link to apply for this CDT project at the University of Hull:

Full Time: https://evision.hull.ac.uk/urd/sits.urd/run/siw_ipp_lgn.login?process=siw_ipp_app&code1=RPMARSXFD01003&code2=0001

Part time: https://evision.hull.ac.uk/urd/sits.urd/run/siw_ipp_lgn.login?process=siw_ipp_app&code1=RPMARSXPD01002&code2=0001

With your application, you need to upload copies of the following supporting evidence:  

• Complete transcripts (and final degree certificate(s) where possible). If your qualification documents are not in English, you will need to supply copies of your original language documents as well as their official translation into English.  
• Your Curriculum Vitae (CV).   
• A completed Supplementary Application Form (upload when asked to add a Research proposal).  

Please download the Supplementary Application Form here. 

Ensure you complete all sections of the Supplementary Application Form in font and size Calibri 11pt, specify the research project you are applying for.  

Uploading the form 

When you have completed the form, please save it as a pdf format and labelled as follows: 

Last name_first name PhD application form 

Upload the form as part of your application documents through the University of Hull student application portal, when asked to add a Research Proposal. The Form replaces the Research Proposal and so you do not need to add a Research Proposal. Please do not send your form directly to the Offshore Wind CDT.   

Interviews will be held online with an interview panel comprising of project supervisory team members from the host university where the project is based.  Where the project involves external supervisors from university partners or industry sponsors then representatives from these partners may form part of the interview panel and your supplementary application form will be shared with them (with the guaranteed interview scheme section removed). Interviews will take place during early and mid-June. 

For more information about the project, please email Dr Jon Bolland via J.Bolland@hull.ac.uk. For enquiries about the CDT, please email auracdt@hull.ac.uk.

References & further reading

Gill, A.B., S. Degraer, A. Lipsky, N. Mavraki, E. Methratta, and R. Brabant. 2020. Setting the context for offshore wind development effects on fish and fisheries. Oceanography 33(4): 118–127, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2020.411

Friedland KD, Methratta ET, Gill AB, Gaichas SK, Curtis TH, Adams EM, Morano JL, Crear DP, McManus MC and Brady DC (2021). Resource Occurrence and Productivity in Existing and Proposed Wind Energy Lease Areas on the Northeast US Shelf. Front. Mar. Sci. 8:629230. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.629230

Ingram, E. C., Cerrato, R. M., Dunton, K. J., & Frisk, M. G. (2019). Endangered Atlantic sturgeon in the New York wind energy area: Implications of future development in an offshore wind energy site. Scientific Reports, 9(1), 12432. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-48818-6

Reubens, J. T., De Rijcke, M., Degraer, S., & Vincx, M. (2014). Diel variation in feeding and movement patterns of juvenile Atlantic cod at offshore wind farms. Journal of Sea Research, 85, 214–221. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seares.2013.05.005

Reubens, J. T., Pasotti, F., Degraer, S., & Vincx, M. (2013). Residency, site fidelity and habitat use of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) at an offshore wind farm using acoustic telemetry. Marine Environmental Research, 90, 128–135. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.maren vres.2013.07.001

van der Knaap, I., Reubens, J., Thomas, L., Ainslie, M. A., Winter, H. V., Hubert, J., Martin, B., & Slabbekoorn, H. (2021). Effects of a seismic survey on movement of free-ranging Atlantic cod. Current Biology, 31(7), 1555–1562. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.01.050

van der Knaap, I., Slabbekoorn, H., Moens, T., Van den Eynde, D., & Reubens, J. (2022). Effects of pile driving sound on local movement of free-ranging Atlantic cod in the Belgian North Sea. Environmental Pollution, 300, 118913. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2022.118913