Abstract
Offshore wind (OSW) energy development is a fast-growing international industry. A range of sounds that potentially affect marine life are produced during preconstruction surveys, construction, and operations of offshore wind farms. However, the effects of these sounds on marine life, and particularly on fishes and aquatic invertebrates, are not well understood since there have been few studies of noise-induced OSW effects on these animals. Thus, building from recent efforts to identify research and coordination needs for environmental OSW research, this chapter suggests several priorities for further research to improve understanding of the effects of OSW on fishes and aquatic invertebrates. This chapter also identifies several areas where further coordination to prioritize taxa for study, standardize data collection, explore mitigation measures, and centralize research funding could help fill key gaps in knowledge and inform development decisions and mitigation measures. These gaps are relevant to floating and fixed-foundation OSW, as well as to other marine renewable energy sources such as wave and tidal energy. Filling these research and coordination gaps would help to improve understanding of the effects of sound and vibrations on fishes and aquatic invertebrates at both the individual and population levels and provide important information to help in the assessment of the potential for cumulative impacts to populations and ecosystems.