Where is baltic

The Baltic states wish to expand the cooperation with Germany even further. The goal is to channel cooperation further in the future, align the respective bilateral and multilateral requirements and set up working groups for scientific and technical cooperation with alternating meetings. Numerous consortia from Germany and partners from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania sent project applications in response to this call for proposals.

The projects funded by the programme concentrate on energy research, environmental research and technologies, ICT , marine research, innovation, health research and biotechnology. The objectives of the new funding programme, which resumed in and , are to exploit innovation potential through international cooperation and to enhance the international competitive advantages of German companies and research institutions in the Baltic region together with their partners.

Contact persons. The 51, km 2 basin formed by the Kemijoki is co-owned by Finland and Norway, which is the source of the river. With a length of km, Kemijoki is the longest river in Finland. The river passes through Kemijarvi and Rovaniemi, which is where the the Kemijoki merges with the Ounasjoki River. The North Atlantic Oscillation system influences the major air pressure system, which eventually affects the precipitation and atmospheric circulation.

The Baltic Sea basin experiences two main types of climate. The southern part experiences a marine west coast climate, where wind transports moisture from the ocean, which interacts with the warm ocean currents to provide moist and mild winter. The northern and middle regions experience temperate climates, characterized by long, cold winters, with temperatures dropping to below -3 degrees Celsius. The water temperature also varies with location, depth, and season. The water temperature around Bornholm Bay falls to degrees Celsius during winter and rise to degrees Celsius during summer.

Since , the Baltic Sea has frozen entirely about 20 times, with the recent total freezing reported in The Baltic Sea is home to over 20 islands and archipelagos.

Gotland, located off the coast of Sweden, is the largest island in the Baltic Sea , covering approximately 2, km 2. The island has a population of approximately 58, people, with its economy revolving around agriculture and tourism. The island is located in the West Estonia archipelago and is home to about 30, people. Oland, located on the Swedish coast, is the third-largest island with an area of about 1, km 2. It is connected to mainland Sweden by 6 km long bridge.

Oland is made up of a large limestone plain known as Stora Alvaret and is home to 25, people. Lolland, Danish Island, is the 4th largest island in the Baltic Sea with an area of about 1, km 2. The Baltic Sea contains plenty of freshwaters and marine flora and fauna.

The species richness varies with location and depth. The marine fish species include Atlantic herring, Atlantic cod, European hake, European flounder, and turbot. The freshwater species include whitefish, northern pike, and common roach.

The freshwater species are common in rivers and streams that flow into the sea. The decreasing salinity between the Danish belts and the Gulf of Bothnia has led to species decrease along this path. However, the Arkona Basin is one of the richest parts, with over species of mammals, fish, and birds. The Gulf of England has over species.

The lines show changes in the annual averages. Lower panel: In the deep water, the highest temperature recordings have been observed in recent decades in both basins. The variation in temperature in the deep water reflects the inflow of marine water from the North Sea. Changes over time in surface water and deep water salinity. The surface water salinity in the Bornholm Deep and the Gotland Deep, upper panel, are clearly lower now than in the s.

The lower panel shows the salinity in the deep water. The effects of marine water inflow are seen as oscillations, which are more pronounced in the Bornholm Deep which is closer to the Baltic Sea entrance. Changes in pH over time in the surface water of the Bornholm Deep and the Gotland Deep during —, measured during winter. The line shows changes in the winter averages January and February.

Baltic Sea water is influenced by the outer North Sea, as pulses of marine water enter intermittently. These inflows to the Baltic Sea lead to temporary increases in salinity in the deeper water of the Baltic Sea and fluctuations in temperature Figures 1. Inflows of marine water to the Baltic Sea have been rare since the s, although they have had a slightly higher frequency in recent years Figure 1.

Intensity of inflow events to the Baltic Sea between and Inflows of saline water occurred regularly with six to seven events per decade until the s, but their frequency has been low in recent decades. Since , an intensified inflow period of several smaller events and three stronger events so called Major Baltic Inflows started again.

The Major Baltic Inflow of December is the third largest in the history of measurements and the largest one since Source: Feistel et al. Oxygen conditions in the deep have been improved by a series of inflow events since the end of First, a series of smaller inflow events occurred in November , December , and March The scarcity of high intensity inflows has been an important contributing factor to the extension of areas with poor oxygen conditions in the deep water of the Baltic Sea Figures 1.

In particular, there is a clear increase in the occurrence of anoxic areas since Hansson et al. Oxygen depletion occurs when the level of oxygen in the water is lower than the level needed by most species to persist.

Anoxia occurs when all oxygen in the water has been consumed by biological processes. Hydrogen sulphide is formed if there is anoxia for a longer period. Most life forms cannot sustain anoxic conditions, and habitats with hydrogen sulphide only support some bacteria and fungi Hansson et al. In particular, the area with no oxygen was around three times larger during , compared to , based on data from the Baltic Proper, Gulf of Finland and the Gulf of Riga.

In the deeper areas of the Baltic Sea, conditions of low oxygen or even anoxia are an intrinsically natural phenomena, although enhanced by nutrient loading. The recent improvements in the oxygen conditions in the deeper southern and central Baltic basins are related to the saline water inflows in Box 1.

By contrast, the brackish surface and sub-surface waters above the halocline are oxygenated by vertical mixing and thermohaline circulation. Seasonal oxygen deficiency occurring in shallow areas and coastal waters is mainly driven by eutrophication, where weather developments have an impact.

Warm, windless summers increase the probability of low oxygen conditions in these shallower regions during late summer August-September. The impact of the saline water inflows on the deeper, north-eastern areas of the Baltic Sea is not as straightforward as in the central Baltic. The oxygen conditions in the near-bottom layer of the Gulf of Finland, for example, depend on both the saline water inflows and wind-driven alterations of estuarine circulation Lips et al.

Furthermore, the oxygen conditions have worsened after the December inflow in the northern Baltic Proper see Fig. This was caused by the propagation of former anoxic and hypoxic sub-halocline waters from the eastern Gotland Basin to the northern Baltic Proper and from the northern Baltic Proper to the Gulf of Finland Liblik et al.

Poor oxygen conditions at the sea floor restrict productivity and biodiversity in the Baltic Sea. See also Feistel et al. Due to the range of input data used, the map may not correctly reflect the situation in the Gulf of Finland.

Due to its enclosed nature and relatively low biodiversity, the Baltic Sea is especially vulnerable to environmental pressures. The long winter season limits its productivity, and the brackish water creates challenging conditions for both marine and freshwater organisms. Due to the limited water exchange with other seas, inputs of nutrients and other substances from the drainage area accumulate in the Baltic Sea and are only slowly diluted. The land-based inputs, together with pressures arising from human activities at sea, influence the status of habitats and species, and eventually also impact on human well-being.

Typical pressures occurring in sea the Baltic Sea include eutrophication, contamination, marine litter, the introduction and spread of non-indigenous species, underwater sound, fishing and hunting, as well as habitat loss and disturbance. The ecosystem approach to management builds on incremental understanding of the effects of human-induced pressures on the environment, impacts on marine life and consequences for human well-being.

In some cases the mechanisms of how species and habitats are impacted are relatively well known, but in other cases management has to be based on limited knowledge, with the aim being to increase the common level of knowledge over time. This approach recognizes the complexity of ecosystems. It accepts that pressures do not act in isolation and thus that management inevitably needs to consider the impacts of all relevant pressures on the marine ecosystem when managing human activities Box 1.

This is a challenge since management of resources, as well as regulation of human activities, tends to be localised and limited within sectors. One person or activity alone does not exert much pressure on the environment, but when scaled up the impact of many humans and their activities may have a considerable impact on marine species, and the different impacts act together on the environment.

The Helsinki Convention encompasses the protection of the Baltic Sea from all sources of pollution from land, air, and sea based activities. It also commits the signatories to take measures to conserve habitats and biological diversity and to ensure sustainable use of marine resources. Regional monitoring and assessments have been a core task of the inter-governmental Helsinki Commission HELCOM , established to oversee the implementation of the Convention and to share knowledge in support of regional environmental policy.

It is structured around four segments for which specific goals and objectives have been formulated; eutrophication, hazardous substances, biodiversity, and maritime activities Figure 1. The environmental objectives for the Baltic Sea Action Plan are structured around the segments eutrophication, hazardous substances, biodiversity, and maritime activities.

Through HELCOM as the coordinating hub, the regional follow-up of the two policy frameworks can thus be met simultaneously and be carried out coherently by the countries bordering the Baltic Sea Box 1. The Doctrine includes the protection and conservation of the marine environment where sustainable economic and social development, along with international cooperation, are important elements.

Other European policy frameworks, such as the Habitats Directive , Water Framework Directive and the Birds Directive EC , , , also share important objectives with the Baltic Sea Action Plan, for example the aim of achieving a favourable conservation status of species and habitats and good ecological quality and chemical status of coastal waters. When relevant, and for a more complete understanding, results from assessments carried out to follow-up these policies are also used and referred to in this report.

Further, the report can support follow up and implementation of other policies both on regional and global levels. It will for instance serve as a baseline scenario for implementation of the ocean-related UN Sustainable Development Goals in the Baltic Sea. The Baltic Sea Action Plan and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive have similar goals and objectives, and thus, progress towards achieving the same regional aim, which can be assessed using the same indicators and tools.

Drowning in fishing gear can be a strong pressure on populations of divers, grebes, cormorants, alcids, mergansers and ducks, especially in wintering areas with high densities of waterbirds.

Diving waterbirds are especially vulnerable to being entangled in gill nets and other types of nets. Incidental by-catches also occur in other types of fishing gear, such as longlines and traps ICES b. Beside the assessment of incidental by-catch, hunting must also be taken into account See Chapter 4. One human activity can cause many different pressures, and each of these pressures can affect organisms in various ways.

The effects can also be hierarchically dependent. For example, the input of chemical substances can lead to reduced available energy of a species due to the energy exerted in combating the chemical. This can lead to reduced energy reserves for reproduction, resulting in negative population effects. Such cascading effects can also result in changes in community composition and biodiversity.

The Baltic Sea Impact Index uses sensitivity scores based on a regional scale expert survey in order to cover a broad range of topics in a similar way and makes use of existing expertise on the different ways in which pressures may impact the environment. The results can be further validated by a review of selected linkages, available in the literature. Examples on how such pathways can be outlined systematically using a literature analysis tool are given below.

The examples are shown for selected pressures affecting seagrasses and blue mussels, which are keystone species providing habitat for a huge number of other species which interact and are also dependent on one another.

Major threats to seagrass result from nutrient inputs and habitat loss, the majority of which are from land such as from the oversupply of fertilisers or improperly treated waste water. The increased nutrient levels favour phytoplankton and epiphytes growing on seagrasses, leading to overgrowth and shading and finally to a reduced biomass of seagrass. This effect can be exacerbated by increased current velocities, caused for example by construction activities: snails, normally grazing on seagrass for epiphytes and thus, mitigating the overgrowth effect, are washed away and disappear.

Deposit of dredged material in sea grass covered areas and dredging activities, bury and extract seagrass, respectively, and therefore have a direct impact. Additionally, re-suspension of sediments reduces light availability, leading to decreased photosynthesis and decreased growth. Some antifouling additives from ship coating reduce the photosynthetic efficiency of seagrass. Herbicides from agriculture may also affect seagrass and cause similar effects. Increased water temperatures caused by climate change not only affect growth and survival of seagrass but may also favour the spreading of pathogens, such as the potentially epidemic wasting disease which has been responsible for major seagrass declines in the past.

Additional important pressures affecting seagrass meadows are for example oxygen depletion and increased sulphide concentrations, direct and indirect effects of fisheries, and acidification Figure B. Figure B. Effects of selected human activities on seagrass meadows. Download Figure B6. Blue mussels are sensitive to heavy metals and other pollution, since they are filter feeders and accumulate metals directly. Sources of contaminants are industries, land-based activities, air deposition, and activities at sea, such as harbours, shipping, industry, and oil spills.

The defence mechanisms that are induced in the mussels are energetically costly for them, and alter heart rate and respiration. Additionally, physical condition is impaired, growth is reduced and mortality increases. The magnitude of these effects is dependent on environmental factors such as salinity, temperature and oxygen conditions. Changes in water temperature can be caused by local industrial heat sources or by climate change.

In combination with acidification, effects on early development stages and on shell thickness have been observed. Moreover, shell growth and mortality are negatively affected by the interactive effects of reduced salinity and increased temperature. Seabed disturbance caused by fishing activities may lead to the decline of blue mussel, by removal of species and abrasion.

The invasive species Crassostrea gigas is considered to compete with blue mussels and may alter the effects of anthropogenic pressures due to different tolerance levels towards the pressures Figure B. Effects of selected human activities on blue mussels to show the linkage framework.

Deterioration of marine biodiversity may result in welfare losses to society See Chapter 3 Human welfare and ecosystem health. Although the effects may not be directly observable, people obtain benefits from knowing that the marine ecosystem and its species are thriving. The value for biodiversity is, for the most part, independent of the use of the marine environment, and more related to the knowledge that habitats and species exist and are in good health.

Improved biodiversity and marine health brings about increased economic benefits to citizens, which are lost if the state of the sea does not improve cost of degradation.

The valuation study estimated the benefits from increasing the amount of healthy perennial vegetation such as underwater meadows and the size of fish stocks in the Finnish-Swedish archipelago and the Lithuanian coast from current to good status. As the study was conducted only in three countries, the benefit estimates had to be transferred to the six other Baltic Sea countries to arrive at a regional estimate. Thus, only the estimates for Finland, Lithuania and Sweden are based on original valuation studies and data collection, and the estimates for Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Latvia, Poland and Russia are based on value transfer.

The transferred value estimates were corrected for differences in price and income levels between the countries. The choice of which estimates to transfer, and where to, was made based on average income levels. Figure B5. It is worth noting that there is more uncertainty about these estimates compared to the estimates for eutrophication and recreation, as some of the values are based on benefit transfer.

Benefit losses related to perennial vegetation and fish stocks. Note that estimates for Finland, Lithuania and Sweden are based on original valuation studies and data collection, and estimates for the six other countries are based on value transfer from Finland Denmark and Germany and Lithuania Estonia, Latvia, Poland and Russia.

Value estimates are in purchasing power parity adjusted euros. Source: Kosenius and Ollikainen Download Figure B5. A HELCOM core indicator to assess the number of drowned mammals and waterbirds caught in fishing gear is undergoing further development.

Drowning in fishing gear is believed to be the greatest source of mortality for harbour porpoise populations in the Baltic Sea, and is also a concern for seals Core indicator report: HELCOM ar. The risk of incidental by-catch is highest in various types of gillnets but other stationary fishing gear, such as fyke nets and push-up traps also have incidental by-catches ICES a, Vanhatalo et al.

Incidental by-catches of harbour porpoise in the Kattegat and Belts Seas were calculated at to animals in , based primarily on information from CCTV cameras on commercial vessels in combination with data on fishing ICES d. However, the numbers are associated with high uncertainties, concerning both incidental by-catch numbers and the amount of fishing activity taking place.

Documentation of incidental by-catch of harbour porpoise in the Baltic Proper is fragmented, typically amounting to a few animals per year from the countries that are reporting by-catch of this species. However, dead harbour porpoises showing signs of having been entangled in gillnets are found and reported regularly, so it is likely that by-catch in gillnets is adversely affecting the critically endangered central Baltic Sea population ICES a. The annual incidental by-catch of grey seals in trap nets and gill nets was estimated at around 2, 2, seals in , based on interviews with fishermen from Sweden, Finland and Estonia, and accounting for the variability in seal abundance, fishing activity, and underreporting Vanhatalo et al.

There are no estimates of the incidental by-catch of ringed seals or harbour seals. Eel Anguilla anguilla has been a common species across the Baltic Sea historically, occurring even in the far north.

With a common recruitment area in the Sargasso Sea all eel in Europe and the Mediterranean are part of the same panmictic population, occurring in scattered marine, coastal, river and lake ecosystems. A main concern is that the recruitment of eel has decreased sharply since the s Moriarty and Dekker , ICES c. Probably, a decreasing trend has been present even longer Dekker and Beaulaton Eel is subject to many pressures in its natural environment, and the recent declines can likely be explained by a combination of several factors, including overfishing, inland habitat loss and degradation, mortality in hydropower turbines, contaminants, parasites and climatic changes in the spawning area Moriarty and Dekker , ICES f.

The status of the eel stock has been poorly documented until recently, with incomplete catch statistics being one issue. There are indications that the eel in the Baltic Sea constitutes about a quarter of the total population of European eel today.

In the Baltic Sea, there is a decreasing number of licensed fishermen targeting eel, and there have been efforts to ban recreational fishing and to decrease the number of licensed fishers ICES c. In , the EU eel regulation implemented a distributed control system, setting a common restoration target at the international level, and obliging EU countries to implement the required protective measures.

The required minimum protection has not yet been achieved, and although eel management plans are being established on a national level, no joint management and assessment actions have been achieved. Physical loss is defined as a permanent change of seabed substrate or morphology, meaning that there has been change to the seabed which has lasted or is expected to last for a long period more than twelve years EC a.

The following activities were considered in the assessment as potentially causing loss of seabed: construction at sea and on the shoreline including cables and pipelines, marinas and harbours, land claim, mariculture, extraction of sand and gravel, and dredging Figure 4. Physical disturbance is defined as a change to the seabed which can be reverted if the activity causing the disturbance ceases EC a.

The same activities as in the assessment of physical loss, and trawling, were considered as causing physical disturbance acting via the pressures of siltation, smothering, and abrasion. In addition, shipping was included as potentially causing physical disturbance Figure 4. The potential extent of loss and disturbance of the seabed was estimated by identifying the spatial distribution of human activities exerting these pressures.

The extent of pressures was estimated based on information from literature, and the data sets were aggregated into two layers, representing physical loss and physical disturbance, respectively.

Whether an activity in reality leads to loss of or disturbance of habitats depends on many factors, such as the duration and intensity of the activity, the technique used and the sensitivity of the area affected. The aggregated layers were also compared with information on the spatial distribution of broad benthic habitat types, in order to estimate the potentially lost and disturbed areas of benthic habitats For more information, see the thematic assessment; HELCOM E.

The results are presented descriptively as an indication of the potential extent of the pressure. However, no threshold values are defined for physical loss and disturbance and thus no value judgement of status is placed on the results.

Confidence in the assessment has not been calculated because the data layers include only information on which potential pressures are present, while their absence according to the data may reflect a true absence or missing information. Therefore the potential loss and disturbance can be underestimated in some sub-basins due to lack of data on specific pressures.

It is however possible to qualitatively evaluate gaps in the pressure layers based on knowledge of the national data sets that are underlying the Baltic wide layers. Fishing mortality was assessed in relation to the level estimated to deliver a long term maximum sustainable yield, referred to as F MSY , based on analytical assessment models.

No assessment is yet available for the age and size distribution. The assessment results presented here give the average results for the years to , using reference values from Box 4.

Proxy reference points are used for some data-limited stocks. For stocks where sufficient data for an analytical assessment are lacking, ICES provides fisheries advice based on historical data on catches, recruitment, harvest rate and biomass. Species which are found and fished in the Baltic Sea, but for which the Baltic Sea fisheries have limited importance are not included, such as mackerel Scomber scombrus , horse mackerel Trachurus trachurus , ling Molva molva , saithe Pollachius virens and anchovy Engraulidae , nor commercial species in coastal and transitional waters which are assessed nationally.

Cod Gadus morhua is mainly fished by demersal trawls reaching the seabed. It is also fished with gillnets, often with a by-catch of flatfish, which is also utilised. In times of low cod quotas and high flatfish abundances, flatfishes can become the key target species, especially dab Limanda limanda and flounder Platichthys flesus. Pelagic commercial species are almost exclusively sprat Sprattus sprattus and herring Clupea harengus , and are mainly fished by pelagic trawls, in the water column.

Salmon Salmo salar is caught by long lines during its feeding stage in the sea, or by trap nets or gill nets during their spawning run, and salmon fishing is also sometimes allowed in river mouths. Drift nets have been fully banned in the Baltic Sea since The coastal fisheries use mainly gill nets, pound nets, trap nets, and in some areas Danish seines. A variety of species are targeted, depending on season and availability, including herring, cod and flounder and coastal freshwater species such as pikeperch Sander lucioperca and perch Perca fluviatilis.

Demersal trawling occurs in some coastal areas, but is forbidden in the coastal zone in many of the Baltic countries. The particles can be synthetic and non-synthetic particles, such as plastic, cellulose, cotton, wool, rubber, metal, glass, combustion particles. Microlitter particles can originate from land-based sources, for example via waste water, but they are also created at sea during the breakdown of larger litter items or by tearing from equipment used for maritime activities Lassen et al.

Microlitter has been detected inside species in all levels of the food web and may be found in all parts of the environment; on the water surface, within the water column, on the seafloor and shore Lassen et al. Particles with low density, such as many common plastic types, can also reach the seafloor, by being incorporated in marine snow, attached to sinking detritus, or when they are covered with biofilms which increase their density and hydrophobic state.

Monitoring of hazardous substances takes place in three types of matrices, namely biota, water and sediment. Each of these has specific threshold values defined for each substance or substance group.