The Environmental standing of the Baltic Sea: from political proposal to practical project Copenhagen 17 March, 2008 The Baltic Sea Regional Project, BSRP Activities and Results Jan Thulin ICES

Major Threats to the Baltic Eutrophication Overfishing Chemical pollution Biological diversity All caused by Human Behaviour

The Environmental standing of the Baltic Sea: from political proposal to practical project Copenhagen 17 March, 2008 BSRP Goals: -To introduce and apply the Large Marine Ecosystem (LME) concept in the Baltic -To develop preconditions and start implementing the Ecosystem-based Approach to Management (EAM) in the Baltic -To build-improve monitoring and assessment capacity necessary for EAM (focus on Eastern Baltic states) GEF/WB - HELCOM/ICES + 9 Baltic states +NOAA Budget: 12,5 Million US$

The Environmental standing of the Baltic Sea: from political proposal to practical project Copenhagen 17 March, 2008

LL Biodiversity St. Petersburg Co-LPM SOOP Tallinn Co-LPM CZM Co-LPM MMED BSRP Working Structure LIU and CC Fisheries Riga LL ICES surveys Kaliningrad LL Coast. Activ. Tallinn LL Fish age/ Stomach anal Riga LL Salmon restor Riga CC Ecosystem Health Gdynia LL Alien Spec. Klaipeda LL Fish disease Kaliningrad LIU and CC Productivity Riga LL Zooplankt. Gdynia LL Phytob.mon SOOP Tallinn LIU andCC GIS & Data Vilnius LIU and CC Socio-economy Tallinn Coordinators, C1, C2 C; Component CC: Coordination Centre - C1 LL: Lead Laboratory – C1 LIU: Local Implem. Unit – C2 Institutes in Denmark, Finland, Germany, Sweden and USA +

The Environmental standing of the Baltic Sea: from political proposal to practical project Copenhagen 17 March, 2008 Some of the activities and Some of the results of the BSRP

The Environmental standing of the Baltic Sea: from political proposal to practical project Copenhagen 17 March, 2008 Meeting nameTimeVenue IOC/BSRP Ocean Teachers Data trainingOctober, 2005Vilnius ICES/BSRP workshop on FishFrame and DATRASOctober, 2005Gdynia Workshops on environmental genotoxicity and selected enzyme biomarkers in fish and mollusksAutumn 2005 Gdynia, PL Final workshop on zooplankton indicatorsNovember, 2005Gdynia Sea-going training workshop on fish pathologyDecember, 2006R/W W.Herwig/Germany Sprat & Flounder Age Reading workshopsJanuary/February 2006Riga BSRP/HELCOM Third Coastal Fish Monitoring workshopJanuary, 2006Helsinki BSRP/HELCOM meeting on Alien Species Introductions in the Baltic Sea AreaJanuary, 2006Helsinki BSRP Introductory workshop on Acoustic data processingWinter 2005/2006Kaliningrad BSRP Training workshop on using Sonar- DataEcho_ViewSpring 2006Kaliningrad BSRP/HELCOM Zooplankton workshopSpring, 2006Warnemuende, DE Gear inter-comparison to quantify the accuracy of the gear used within the Zooplankton part of COMBINESummer, 2006Helsinki, FI Some of the activities

Source: European Commission,

M/S STENA Nordica Gdynia-Karlskrona AN UNATTENDED OBSERVATION SYSTEM INSTALLED ON THE SOUTHERN TRANSECT

ICES

DEVELOPED A PROPOSAL TO MAKE HELCOM ”COMBINE” USABLE FOR INVASIVE SPECIES MONITORING Invasion of ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi Map from N.Aladin, 2005, LL BIODIVERSITY 2007

BSRP Collection of Reports and Presentations available on CD and at

Some direct outcomes of the BSRP Preconditions for EAM of human activities in the Baltic created (ICES 2006)Preconditions for EAM of human activities in the Baltic created (ICES 2006) Significant support during development of the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan (Baltic SAP)Significant support during development of the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan (Baltic SAP)

Assessment capacity, esp, in eastern countries significantly improved :Assessment capacity, esp, in eastern countries significantly improved : - indicator-based assessment introduced; - quality of input data for fish stock assessment improved; - coastal fish monitoring started; - phytobenthos monitoring started; - integrated assessment of the Baltic continues; - SOOP network further developed. The science network established will long survive the project.

Some indirect outcomes of the BSRP The 9 Baltic countries have started a joint comprehensive research programme (BONUS+) to support cooperative marine science. The BONUS Science Plan is built on the LME concept and designed to address EAM needs The work of the Baltic Science Community at ICES has been reorganized to better address EAM needs.The work of the Baltic Science Community at ICES has been reorganized to better address EAM needs. HELCOM and ICES are cooperating as closely as never before.HELCOM and ICES are cooperating as closely as never before. The BSRP are being used in other GEF/LME projects as and example of a success storyThe BSRP are being used in other GEF/LME projects as and example of a success story

The Environmental standing of the Baltic Sea: from political proposal to practical project Copenhagen 17 March, 2008 So – we made some differences ! But what about drawbacks and major problems during implementation and in the future ??

Scientists/farmers Politicians Conventions – International organizations Cooperators Strengthened Cooperation,coordination MoU, LoA, + network +EU, Reg. Program Evaluation of Actors of the BSRP Too much nationalistic

Key-words: Major challenge: Finally: BSRP has been a Catalyser Major stength: Politicians and decision-makers (national owners) INTEGRATION and OUTREACH Organization The Environmental standing of the Baltic Sea: from political proposal to practical project Copenhagen 17 March, 2008

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