The dataset contains the number of hunted birds (number of birds/area) per year per area for each target species: common scooter (Melanitta nigra), velvet scoter (Melanitta fusca), eider (Somateri molissima) and long tailed duck (Clangula hymalis). The dataset covers the period 2016-2021. The data was made available by HELCOM Contracting Parties in response to a data call. The data was reported by Denmark, Estonia, Finland and Sweden. The activity was declared as not relevant in Germany, Latvia and Poland. Attribute specification and units: Area: Name of the area given by the national data provider Eid_2016-Eid_2021: Number of hunted eiders in 2016-2021 LTD_2016-LTD_201: Number of hunted long tailed ducks in 2016-2021 Sco_2016-Sco_2021: Number of hunted common scoters in 2016-2021 VSc_2016-VSc_2021: Number of hunted velvet scoters in 2016-2021 avg_syears: average of number of hunted birds

This dataset contains depositing sites reported by HELCOM EG DREDS. The depositing sites are grouped by spatial data type to pointwise, line, and polygon datasets. Data covers the years 2016-2021. Attribute specifications and units Helcom site ID (Helcom_sit): Unique id for deposit site Dredging ID (Dredging_I): Dredging site id, where material originates from Unique ID (Unique_ID): Unique id for each depositing activity (Helcom site ID + Dredging ID + year) Site name (Site_name): Name of the deposit site Type of area dredged (Type_of_ar): Type of area that was dredged (e.g. harbour or sea) Dredging activity (Dredging_a): Maintenance or capital dredging Material deposited (Material_d): The type of material deposited (e.g. sand, silt) Amount deposited (tonnes) (Amount_dep): Amount of material that has been deposited to deposit site, tonnes dry weight Amount beneficial use (tonnes) (Amount_ben): Amount material used for beneficial purposes, tonnes dry weight Beneficial use (Beneficial): Description of beneficial use Year (Year): Year of activity Country (Country): Contracting Party of HELCOM Sub-basin (Sub_basin): HELCOM sub-basin (assessment unit level 2) where activity has taken place Comments (Comments): General comments related to activity Contaminants Cd - SPAH9: Amount of contaminant deposited, in tonnes dry weight Contaminants SPCB7 - MBT : Amount of contaminant deposited, in kilograms dry weight Other contaminants (kg) (Other_cont): Any other contaminant deposited (substance indicated in "notes") Petroleum HC (tonnes) (Petroleum_): Amount of Petroleum HC deposited, in tonnes dry weight HCB - DEHP DBP BBP: Amount of contaminant deposited, in kilograms dry weight Contaminant notes (Contaminan): Notes related to contaminant load Permit (Permit): Deposit site permit reference Quality flag (Quality_fl): Quality flag of data - Quality assured: Data is quality assured either in the annual verification or in a separate quality assurance process by EN DREDS - No quality assurance: Data is not quality assured due to the reason that process has not been carried out - No Quality assurance possible: Data quality assurance process has been made, but it was not possible to find the reference data to verify the parameters original_dreda: capital or maintenance as reported by the Contrasting Party

This dataset describes fishing intensity for Dredge mobile bottom contacting gear in 2012 based on VMS/Log book data processed by ICES Working Group on Spatial Fisheries Data (WGSFD). ICES secretariat collected during 2017 relevant VMS and logbook data for 2009-2016 to produce, as a technical service to HELCOM, updated spatial data layers on fishing intensity/pressure. Improved data quality control checks were implemented. Submitted data across the HELCOM area have improved in quality compared to previous data 2009-2013 published in 2015. Standardized methods were used to produce the requested data layers. The code used to create the data products is available here: https://github.com/ices-eg/wg_WGSFD For further technical information on the advice request, see http://www.ices.dk/sites/pub/Publication%20Reports/Advice/2017/Special_requests/helcom.2017.18.pdf HELCOM secretariat did the following processing to the shapefile provided by ICES: - 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 Year: Year of fishing activity 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 SurfaceSAR: Surface area ratio (Swept area, < 2 cm penetration depth of the gear components) Subsurface: Subsurface area ratio (Swept area, subsurface =>2 cm penetration depth of the gear components) totweight: Total Weight (kg) totvalue: Total value (Euros) Kw Fishing Hours: (Kw*h) Fishing hours: (h) Reported: Yes=Reported data. No= No reported data (area that does not contain effort/intensity value due to lack of reported data). Please note that this dataset was updated (v2) in January 2019, see further details below in the lineage section.

This dataset represents the underlying biota data on core indicator Heavy metals – Cadmium. The core indicator evaluates the status of the marine environment based on concentrations of heavy metal cadmium (Cd) in seawater, mussels 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. Attribute information: "region" = name of subbasin "country" = country "station" = Unique code for the station "stationNam" = name for the station "latitude" = latitude coordinate of station "longitude" = longitude coordinate of station "determinan" = determinant parameter (CD = Cadmium) "detGroup" = the grouping of determinands used to display the results "species" = species of measurement "_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 "HQS" = Threshold value "HQSdiff" = difference between clLY and HQS "HQSbelow" = whether the mean value in the last monitoring year is significantly below HQS

Summary Unesco Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Biosphere reserves in the Baltic Sea area (in 1998) and UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Description Dataset contains the Unesco Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Biosphere reserves in the Baltic Sea area (in 1998). Biosphere Reserves are areas of terrestrial and coastal ecosystems promoting solutions to reconcile the conservation of biodiversity with its sustainable use. They are internationally recognized, nominated by national governments and remain under sovereign jurisdiction of the states where they are located. Biosphere reserves serve in some ways as 'living laboratories' for testing out and demonstrating integrated management of land, water and biodiversity. The source of this data set was 'Baltic Pipeline System: Environmental Impact on the Baltic Sea' by Tacis services DG IA, European Commission. The dataset has later been amended with UNESCO World Heritage Sites. See attribute table for details. For more information about marine protected areas in the Baltic Sea, see: http://www.helcom.fi/environment2/biodiv/en_GB/bspas/.

This core indicator evaluates the status of abundance of breeding waterbirds in the Baltic Sea region. The breeding waterbirds are considered to reflect good status when at least 75% of the considered species deviate less than 30% downwards (species laying more than one egg per year) or 20% downwards (species laying one egg per year) from the baseline condition during the reference period 1991-2000. This dataset displays the result of the indicator in HELCOM Assessment Scale 1 (Whole Baltic Sea). Attribute information: "Status" = Status of the indicator (“Achieve”, “Fail” or “Not assessed”) "AULEVEL" = Assessment unit level used for the indicator "level_1" = Name of HELCOM scale 1 assessment unit "Common Shelduck" = Results for common shelduck "Eurasian Oystercatcher" = Results for Eurasian oystercatcher "Pied Avocet" = Results for pied avocet "Ringed Plover" = Results for ringed plover "Turnstone" = Results for turnstone "Dunlin" = Results for dunlin "Arctic Skua" = Results for Arctic skua "Common Gull" = Results for common gull "Herrin Gull" = Results for herring gull "Lesser black-backed gull" = Results for lesser black-backed gull "Little Tern" = Results for little tern "Caspian Tern" = Results for Caspian tern "Arctic Tern" = Results for Arctic tern "Goosander" = Results for goosander "Red-breasted Merganser" = Results for red-breasted merganser "Great crested grebe" = Results for great crested grebe "Great Cormorant" = Results for great cormorant "Razorbill" = Results for razorbill "Common Guillemot" = Results for common guillemot "Black Guillemot" = Results for black guillemot "Tufted Duck" = Results for tufted duck "Common Eider" = Results for common eider "Velvet Scoter" = Results for velvet scoter "Mute Swan" = Results for mute swan "Graylag Goose" = Results for greylag goose "Great black-backed Gull" = Results for great black-backed gull "Sandwich Tern" = Results for sandwich tern "Greater Scaup" = Results for greater scaup

This dataset represents the underlying biota data on core indicator Polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and their metabolites. The core indicator evaluates the status of the marine environment based on concentrations of Polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in sediment and biota. Quantitative threshold value is used to evaluate if core indicators status is Achieve, Fail or Not assessed. As There is no commonly agreed threshold value for measuring metabolites available, this report only considers concentrations of contaminants. This dataset 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" = name of subbasin "country" = country "station" = Unique code for the station "stationNam" = name for the station "determinan" = determinant parameter (FLU = fluoranthene, BAP = benzo(a)pyrene) "detGroup" = the grouping of determinands used to display the results "species" = species of measurement "_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 "HQS" = Threshold value "HQSdiff" = difference between clLY and HQS "HQSbelow" = whether the mean value in the last monitoring year is significantly below HQS

This dataset describes fishing intensity for OT MIX CRU DMF mobile bottom contacting gear in 2015 based on VMS/Log book data processed by ICES Working Group on Spatial Fisheries Data (WGSFD). ICES secretariat collected during 2017 relevant VMS and logbook data for 2009-2016 to produce, as a technical service to HELCOM, updated spatial data layers on fishing intensity/pressure. Improved data quality control checks were implemented. Submitted data across the HELCOM area have improved in quality compared to previous data 2009-2013 published in 2015. Standardized methods were used to produce the requested data layers. The code used to create the data products is available here: https://github.com/ices-eg/wg_WGSFD For further technical information on the advice request, see http://www.ices.dk/sites/pub/Publication%20Reports/Advice/2017/Special_requests/helcom.2017.18.pdf HELCOM secretariat did the following processing to the shapefile provided by ICES: - 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 Year: Year of fishing activity 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 SurfaceSAR: Surface area ratio (Swept area, < 2 cm penetration depth of the gear components) Subsurface: Subsurface area ratio (Swept area, subsurface =>2 cm penetration depth of the gear components) totweight: Total Weight (kg) totvalue: Total value (Euros) Kw Fishing Hours: (Kw*h) Fishing hours: (h) Reported: Yes=Reported data. No= No reported data (area that does not contain effort/intensity value due to lack of reported data). Please note that this dataset was updated (v2) in January 2019, see further details below in the lineage section.

This dataset describes fishing effort (hours/c-square) for all gear types in second quarter of 2013 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.

This dataset describes fishing intensity for surface mobile bottom contacting gear in 2010 based on VMS/Log book data processed by ICES Working Group on Spatial Fisheries Data (WGSFD). ICES secretariat collected during 2017 relevant VMS and logbook data for 2009-2016 to produce, as a technical service to HELCOM, updated spatial data layers on fishing intensity/pressure. Improved data quality control checks were implemented. Submitted data across the HELCOM area have improved in quality compared to previous data 2009-2013 published in 2015. Standardized methods were used to produce the requested data layers. The code used to create the data products is available here: https://github.com/ices-eg/wg_WGSFD For further technical information on the advice request, see http://www.ices.dk/sites/pub/Publication%20Reports/Advice/2017/Special_requests/helcom.2017.18.pdf HELCOM secretariat did the following processing to the shapefile provided by ICES: - 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 Year: Year of fishing activity 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 SurfaceSAR: Surface area ratio (Swept area, < 2 cm penetration depth of the gear components) Subsurface: Subsurface area ratio (Swept area, subsurface =>2 cm penetration depth of the gear components) totweight: Total Weight (kg) totvalue: Total value (Euros) Kw Fishing Hours: (Kw*h) Fishing hours: (h) Reported: Yes=Reported data. No= No reported data (area that does not contain effort/intensity value due to lack of reported data). Please note that this dataset was updated (v2) in January 2019, see further details below in the lineage section.