Paul completed his BSc and PhD at the University of Liverpool. His first job was with the Oceanographic Laboratory, Edinburgh where he worked on the Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) survey particularly on the ecology of fish larvae. After 3 years, Paul joined Nordreco AB (a Nestlé R & D company) in Sweden as a fishery biologist. Paul advised the Findus group on fish raw material supplies and assessed the future potential of aquaculture.
In 1976 Paul moved the University of Leicester as a lecturer in aquatic biology. He researched the foraging behaviour of fish with a side interest in marine commercial fisheries. Paul retired from the University in 2011 as a Professor and Head of the Department of Biology. He now has an Emeritus Professorship. He is a past President, of the Fisheries Society of the British Isles and a recipient of its Beverton Medal. Paul is currently a member of the Science Advisory Board of Marine Scotland. He co-edits the journal Fish and Fisheries (Wiley-Blackwell).