Baltic Sea project to boost regional coherence of marine strategies through improved data flow, assessments, and knowledge base for development of measures Coordinated by HELCOM Themes covered by the project: Biodiversity Hazardous substances Seabed habitats Underwater noise Programmes of measures Eleven partners: DTU Aqua, Denmark EMI, Estonia FOI, Sweden ICES IOW, Germany Latvian Fund for Nature NIVA Denmark SLU Aqua, Sweden SMNH, Sweden SYKE, Finland Thünen-Institute, Germany
Tools for integrated assessments Based on indicators and associated threshold values Integrates the evaulation of indicators to arrive at the status of a topic Fish Seals
Example test results Fish Seals
Data arrangements Aim: semi-automatic system: Joint databases Script to extract data Script to calculate indicators Tools for integrated assessments Baltic BOOST contribution: Biodiversity Hazardous substances ( Hazardous substances) Biodiversity, Hazardous substances To save time and resources To improve quality assurance
Environmental targets - concept Basis for HELCOM nutrient reduction scheme (MAI/CART): Maximum allowable input (MAI) of nutrients consistent with the threshold Maximum values allowable determined level through of pressure modelling. (MAP) Reference condition Good status defined through agreed GES achieved indicators and threshold values Country allocated nutrient reduction GES not achieved targets to achieve GES and MAI Reduction Environmental in input of nutrients target Current state Pressure Input of nutrients Challenges related to pressure on the seabed and underwater noise: Multiple pressures, Impact depending on presence of specific species and biotopes. Project aim: Seek linkages to support definition of maximum allowable pressure level or extent. Limited indicators and threshold values. Project aim: gather knowledge on impacts. Project aim: propose joint guidelines for setting environmental targets. Pressure
STATUS STATUS Benthic habitats: Searching for MAP Synthesis of more than 100 studies available as basis for future work. Selected examples: Zone of impact Activity TIME PRESSURE Extent of pressures: Maintenance dredging Zoobenthos: 3 km Vegetation: 3 km Sand extraction Zoobenthos : 2 km Vegetation: 3 km Disposal of dredged matter Zoobenthos: 3 km Vegetation: 3 km Recovery times: Infralittoral hard bottom: Disposal, dredging, sand extraction: >5 years Infralittoral sand bottom Sand extraction: >6 y at the site, 2 y at 0.5-1km. Circalittoral mud bottom Disposal of dredged matter: 4 y at the site Impacts: Fucus: colonization inhibited at 10 g/m 2 per day sedimentation Eelgrass: >50% mortality at 0.2 cm burial per day Benthic soft-bottom fauna: 58-100% mortality at 10-40 cm burial
Guidelines seabed habitats draft examples Proposal to consider environmental targets if: GES is not achieved, or if there is risk of not achieving GES a significant proportion of a benthic habitat is lost or disturbed, sensitive or threatened features are at risk, recovery of a habitat takes a long time, the spatial extent of pressure impact is wide, the pressure lasts for a long time or is continuous. Common basis for continued work to determined environmental targets for pressures affecting seabed habitats.
Noise: biological sensitive areas Priority species identified: harbour porpoise, harbour seal, ringed seal, grey seal, cod, herring and sprat Periods of biological significance identified for priority species e.g. calving/pupping, mating/spawning, nursing, moulting Draft map of biological sensitive areas to underwater noise Preliminary biologically sensitive areas map currently under revision Supports identificaton of areas at risk where environmental targets are relevant to consider.
Guidelines noise draft examples Related to harbor porpoise and impulsive underwater noise, levels of anthropogenic noise should: not cause injury on individual animals, not affect the energy budget of individual animals or the reproduction to a degree that leads to a decrease on the population level that affects the conservation status; particular emphasis should be on calving and nursing grounds, not cause loss of habitat, through displacement, for a significant period of time or a significant loss of habitat that leads to a decrease on the population level that affects the conservation status. Common basis for defining more specific threshold levels and environmental targets.
BalticBOOST selected results agreement on assessment tools for biodiversity and hazardous substances report on Noise sensitive animals of the Baltic Sea agreed data arrangements and assessment system for biodiversity and hazardous substances agreed and implemented follow-up system for HELCOM agreements spatial layers related to pressures on seabed habitats draft guidelines for setting environmental targets for pressures affecting the seabed habitats and for underwater noise analysis of assessments in HELCOM vs the Habitats Directive for seals fisheries impact tool...and some more.
Partners Helsinki Commission (HELCOM) Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE) International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) Johann Heinrich von Thünen-Institute, Federal Research Institute of Rural Areas, Forestry and Fisheries (TI) Latvian Fund for Nature (LFN) Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research (IOW) NIVA Denmark Water Research (NIVA Denmark) Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Aquatic Resources, Institute of Marine Research (SLU Aqua) Swedish Museum of Natural History (SMNH) Technical University of Denmark, National Institute of Aquatic Resources (DTU Aqua) Totalförsvarets forskningsinstitut, Sweden (FOI) University of Tartu (EMI)