Status
Completed
Principle Investigator Contact Information
Name: Andrew Gill
Address: School Of Applied Sciences Building 56b, Cranfield University, Cranfield, Bedfordshire MK43 0AL, U.K.
Phone: +44 (0)1234750111 x2711
Email: a.b.gill@cranfield.ac.uk
Description
To determine whether EMF can be detected and responded to by EM-sensitive species, using benthic elasmobranchs as the indicators owing to their high sensitivity to EMF.
Funding Source
COWRIE – offshore wind environmental fund; NERC – UK Research Council; Fisheries Society of the British Isles.
Location of Research
Cranfield University and Ardtoe, Ardnamurchan, West Scotland.
Project Aims
To determine whether EMF can be detected and responded to by EM-sensitive species using benthic elasmobranchs as the indicators owing to their high sensitivity to EMF.
Study Progress
This research concluded in 2012.
Key Findings
- S.canicula were found to non-randomly associate nearer to the cables when energized.
- R. clavata individuals exhibit a response to the EMF from an energized cable; the response is variable and was not predictable
- Acoustic telemetry techniques can provide a coarse level understanding of individual fish response to specific stressors
- The use of large scale experimentation through mesocosms (40m x 5m), replicate studies and the inclusion of a control are a feasible way of understanding environmental effects at a scale appropriate to the marine renewable energy sector.
Related Publications
- Peer reviewed report: Gill, A.B., Huang, Y., Gloyne-Philips, I., Metcalfe, J., Quayle, V., Spencer, J. & Wearmouth, V. (2009). COWRIE 2.0 Electromagnetic Fields (EMF) Phase 2: EMF-sensitive fish response to EM emissions from sub-sea electricity cables of the type used by the offshore renewable energy industry. Commissioned by COWRIE Ltd (project reference COWRIE-EMF-1-06).
- Kimber J.A., Sims D.W., Bellamy P.H. & Gill A.B. (2011). The ability of a benthic elasmobranch to discriminate between biological and artificial electric fields, Marine Biology, 158 (1) 1-8.
- Gill, A.B., Bartlett, M. & Thomsen, F. (2012). Potential interactions between diadromous fishes of U.K. conservation importance and the electromagnetic fields and subsea noise from marine renewable energy developments, Journal of Fish Biology, 81 (2) 664-695.