This dataset describes fishing effort (hours/c-square) for midwater trawl in 2010 based on VMS/Log book data processed by ICES Working Group on Spatial Fisheries Data (WGSFD). HELCOM requires spatially explicit information on fishing activity affecting the Baltic Sea marine ecosystem for policy purposes. In order to obtain this information a joint ICES/HELCOM/OSPAR data call was issued to relevant authorities of contracting parties to deliver information on fishing activity based on VMS/Log book data. The raw data was submitted to ICES and processed to advice data products by ICES Working Group for Spatial Fisheries (WGSFD) as requested by HELCOM. Processing of the raw data requires specific resources, knowledge and guarantee of anonymity for specific vessels, thus the process was done by ICES WGSFD following Conditions for VMS data use. In 2015 ICES collated Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) and logbook data received; data from Russia were not received. ICES provided to HELCOM advice as fishing abrasion pressure maps as well as fishing effort maps. HELCOM secretariat did the following processing to the data: - Conversion to ETRS89LAEA coordinate system - Added feature and attribute "Reported" to display unreported areas. Dataset attribute information: c-square: Unique reference of the c-square polygon mid_lat: latitude coordinate of the centroid of c-square inWGS84 decimal degrees mid_lon: longitude coordinate of the centroid of c-square inWGS84 decimal degrees Year: Year of fishing activity quarter: Quarter of the year, if applicable geargroup: Fishing gear group (Effort maps) SubsurfSAR: Subsurface swept area ratio (Intensity maps) SurfSAR: Surface swept area ratio (Intensity maps) Fishing_ho: Total fishing effort in hours within c-square (Effort maps) Reported: Yes=Reported data. No= No reported data (area that does not contain effort/intensity value due to lack of reported data.

The data set is showing rocky shores and stone reefs in the Baltic Sea area as polygon areas used for the BRISK project (Sub-regional risk of spill of oil and hazardous substances in the Baltic Sea, http://www.brisk.helcom.fi/). This dataset has been produced by COWI (http://www.cowi.dk) based on data collected from Baltic Sea countries and data redrawn from Bird & Schwartz (1985) Figure 2.7 Major coast types in the Baltic and HELCOM (1993) Tacis rapport. The dataset includes data provided by the BRISK Project Partner organisations. The detailed documentation of what partner provided what data is given in the Annex of the document: 70618-3.1.2.2 Data Collection Report.

The data set is showing areas where estuaries occurs in the Baltic Sea area as polygon regions used for the BRISK project (Sub-regional risk of spill of oil and hazardous substances in the Baltic Sea, http://www.brisk.helcom.fi/). This dataset has been produced by COWI (http://www.cowi.dk) based on data collected from HELCOM, Finland (Copyright: SYKE), Lithuania, Russia and Sweden. The dataset includes data provided by the BRISK Project Partner organisations from various Baltic Sea countries. The detailed documentation of what partner provided what data is given in the Annex of the document: 70618-3.1.2.2 Data Collection Report. Estuaries have a high biodiversity. They are important breeding and foraging areas for many birds and reproduction areas for many fish species. Stranded oil may degrade slowly and the risk for damage to the habitat is high during clean up actions. The organisms encountered in the habitat are generally very vulnerable to oil.

This dataset describes fishing effort (hours/c-square) for midwater trawl in 2009 based on VMS/Log book data processed by ICES Working Group on Spatial Fisheries Data (WGSFD). HELCOM requires spatially explicit information on fishing activity affecting the Baltic Sea marine ecosystem for policy purposes. In order to obtain this information a joint ICES/HELCOM/OSPAR data call was issued to relevant authorities of contracting parties to deliver information on fishing activity based on VMS/Log book data. The raw data was submitted to ICES and processed to advice data products by ICES Working Group for Spatial Fisheries (WGSFD) as requested by HELCOM. Processing of the raw data requires specific resources, knowledge and guarantee of anonymity for specific vessels, thus the process was done by ICES WGSFD following Conditions for VMS data use. In 2015 ICES collated Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) and logbook data received; data from Russia were not received. ICES provided to HELCOM advice as fishing abrasion pressure maps as well as fishing effort maps. HELCOM secretariat did the following processing to the data: - Conversion to ETRS89LAEA coordinate system - Added feature and attribute "Reported" to display unreported areas. Dataset attribute information: c-square: Unique reference of the c-square polygon mid_lat: latitude coordinate of the centroid of c-square inWGS84 decimal degrees mid_lon: longitude coordinate of the centroid of c-square inWGS84 decimal degrees Year: Year of fishing activity quarter: Quarter of the year, if applicable geargroup: Fishing gear group (Effort maps) SubsurfSAR: Subsurface swept area ratio (Intensity maps) SurfSAR: Surface swept area ratio (Intensity maps) Fishing_ho: Total fishing effort in hours within c-square (Effort maps) Reported: Yes=Reported data. No= No reported data (area that does not contain effort/intensity value due to lack of reported data.

Observations of Lampetra fluviatilis were collected from the Baltic Sea area for HELCOM Red List species list. The HELCOM Red List of Baltic Sea species in danger of becoming extinct (2013) is the first threat assessment for Baltic Sea species that covers all marine mammals, fish, birds, macrophytes (aquatic plants), and benthic invertebrates, and follows the Red List criteria of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Almost 2800 species were considered in the Red List assessment and about 1750 were evaluated according to the IUCN Red List criteria. Lampetra fluviatilis has been placed to the Red List category of Near Threatened (NT) species. The map shows the sub-basins in the HELCOM area where the species is known to occur regularly (HELCOM 2012). Reproduction only takes place in rivers.

This dataset represents the underlying water data on core indicator Heavy metals – Lead.The core indicator evaluates the status of the marine environment based on concentrations of heavy metal Lead (Pb) in water, fish liver and sediments. Quantitative thresholds are used to evaluate if core indicators status is Achieve, Fail or Not assessed. Threshold values are based on Environmental quality standards (EQS), defined at EU level for substances included in the priority list under the Water Framework Directive. The Core indicator displays the result of the indicator in HELCOM Assessment Scale 4 (Division of the Baltic Sea into 17 sub-basins and further division into coastal and off-shore areas and division of the coastal areas by WFD water types or water bodies). Attribute information: "region" = MIME subregion "country" = country "station" = Unique text that identifies the station "stationNam" = name for the station "determinan" = determinant parameter (PB = Lead) "detGroup" = the grouping of determinands used to display the results "filtered" = Filtered or unfiltered water sample used in analysis "_shape" = shape used to map assessment results "colour" = colour used to map assessment results "l3area" = HELCOM assessment unit on scale 3 "l4area" = HELCOM assessment unit on scale 4 "nyall" = total number of years of data "nyfit" = number of years of data used in the assessment "nypos" = number of years with at least one measurement above the limit of detection "lastyear" = most recent year of data "prtrend" = the significance of the change over the most recent 20 years; for the assessment conducted in November 2017 and published in June 2018, this is the period 1996-2016 "rtrend" = annual ‘linear’ change over the most recent 20 years "meanLY" = fitted value in last monitoring year "clLY" = upper one-sided 95% confidence limit on fitted value in last monitoring year "EQS" = Threshold value "EQSdiff" = difference between clLY and EQS "EQSbelow" = whether the mean value in the last monitoring year is significantly below EQS

The data set is showing moulting areas for sea birds (primary sea ducks) in the Baltic Sea area as polygons used for the BRISK project (Sub-regional risk of spill of oil and hazardous substances in the Baltic Sea, http://www.brisk.helcom.fi/). This dataset has been produced by COWI (http://www.cowi.dk) based on data collected from Denmark, Finland (Copyright: SYKE), Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia and Sweden. The dataset includes data provided by the BRISK Project Partner organisations from various Baltic Sea countries. The detailed documentation of what partner provided what data is given in the Annex of the document: 70618-3.1.2.2 Data Collection Report. During the summer period when the birds change feathers (moulting time) the birds are particularly vulnerable.

This dataset represents the underlying data on core indicator Abundance of sea trout spawners and parr 2018. The indicator evaluates the status of the Baltic Sea area based on sea trout spawning in rivers flowing into the sea. River-specific information provided by ICES WGBAST has been joined with relevant HELCOM Level 3 assessment unit by HELCOM Secretariat. Attribute information: "HELCOM_ID": ID of HELCOM Assessment unit "Country": Country in which the assessment unit resides "level_3" = Name of the HELCOM scale 3 assessment unit "AULEVEL" = Scale of assessment "AU" = Name of the HELCOM scale 3 assessment unit "ICES_AU" = ID of ICES Assessment unit "ICES_SD" = ICES Subdivision "Rivername" = Name of river(s) used in analysis for the assessment unit "Year" = Years covered by the assessment "Data_sourc" = Data source "Data_origi" = Data originator (natonal instiute) "National_m" = National monitoing (YES/NO) "Use_restri" = Use restrictions (YES/NO)

Observations of Fucus vesiculosus were collected from the Baltic Sea area for HELCOM Red List species list. The HELCOM Red List of Baltic Sea species in danger of becoming extinct (2013) is the first threat assessment for Baltic Sea species that covers all marine mammals, fish, birds, macrophytes (aquatic plants), and benthic invertebrates, and follows the Red List criteria of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Almost 2800 species were considered in the Red List assessment and about 1750 were evaluated according to the IUCN Red List criteria. Fucus serratus has been placed to the Red List category of Least Concern (LC) species. Dataset for download contains spatial grid of the Baltic Sea. Distribution of the species can be found in corresponding name column. Values are coded: 0 = no observations 1 = present before year 1995 or in 1995 2 = present after year 1995 3 = present before and after year 1995

The data set is showing sandy beaches along the Finnish coast as points used for the BRISK project (Sub-regional risk of spill of oil and hazardous substances in the Baltic Sea, http://www.brisk.helcom.fi/). This dataset has been produced by COWI (http://www.cowi.dk) based on data collected from Finland (Copyright: Metsähallitus).