This dataset represents the underlying data on core indicator 'Reproductive disorders: malformed embryos of amphipods 2018'. The core indicator evaluates the status of the marine environment based on the presence of hazardous substances in the bottom sediments. The rate of embryo malformations indicates reproductive toxicity due to the presence of hazardous substances in the bottom sediments. The threshold value has not been achieved on all stations within each basin indicating that toxic effects of contaminants may be present. The variability of the malformation rate is much greater within a basin than between the Bothnian Sea and the Baltic proper. This dataset displays the result of the indicator in HELCOM Assessment Scale 2 (Division of the Baltic Sea into 17 sub-basins). Attribute information: "YEAR" = Year of sampling "Basin" = Subbasin abbreviation "REGION" = Region code within the Baltic Sea "STATN" = Station "Lat_WGS84d" = latitude coordinate of station "Lon_WGS84d" = longitude coordinate of station "TotalEmbry" = Total embryos "UNDIFFiren" = Undifferentiated "MALFORmed" = Malformed "MEMBraneDa" = Membrane damage "FemalesWME" = Females with malformed embryos "NofFemales" = Number of Females "AveFecundi" = Average Fecundity "STN" = "FFemWAE" = Frequency Females with aberrated embryos "FreqAberrE" = Frequency Aberrant Embryos "inGES_Fem" = inGES (Females) "inGES_Emb" = inGES (Embryos) "inGES_Over" = inGES (overall)

This dataset contains data used for assessing the HELCOM core indicator Reproductive status of seals 2018. The data has been collated by indicator leads based on national monitoring data. For this dataset, the data is aggregated and summarized by ICES Subdivisions. Attribute information: "Major_FA" = FAO Major Area "SubArea" = FAO Subarea "Division" = ICES division "Area_km2" = Area of ICES sub-division "Country" = Country "Species" = Seal species "Code" "Year" = Year of data collection "Date" = Date of data collection "Month" = Month of data collection "Sex" = Sex of the collected individual "Swedish_re" "ICES_SD" = ICES sub-division "Age" = Age of the collected individual "Cause_of_d" = Cause of death "Length" = Lengh of the collected individual "Pregnant" "Data_sourc" = Data source "Data_origi" = Country of the data "Data_restr" = Data restriction

Observations of Merlangius merlangus 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. Merlangius merlangus has been placed to the Red List category of Vulnerable (VU) species. The map shows the sub-basins in the HELCOM area where the species is known to occur regularly and to reproduce (HELCOM 2012).

This core indicator evaluates the status of abundance of wintering waterbirds in the Baltic Sea region. The wintering 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: "level_1" = Name of scale 1 HELCOM assessment unit "AULEVEL" = Assessment unit level used for the indicator "Status" = Status of the indicator (“Achieve”, “Fail” or “Not assessed”) "Eurasian Teal" = Results for Eurasian teal "Black-headed Gull" = Results for black-headed gull "Common Gull" = Results for common gull "Great Black-backed Gull" = Results for great black-backed gull "Herring Gull" = Results for herring gull "Smew" = Results for smew "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 "Common Pochard" = Results for common pochard "Tufted Duck" = Results for tufted duck "Greater Scaup" = Results for greater scaup "Steller's Eider" = Results for Steller's eider "Common Goldeneye" = Results for common goldeneye "Mute Swan" = Results for mute swan "Whooper Swan" = Results for whooper swan "Bewick's Swan" = Results for Bewick's swan "Mallard" = Results for mallard "Northern Pintail" = Results for northern pintail "Eurasian Coot" = Results for Eurasian coot "Eurasian Wigeon" = Results for Eurasian wigeon

This dataset contains integrated eutrophication status assessment 2011-2016. The assessment is done using the HEAT 3.0 by combining assessment unit-specific results from various indicators by three MSFD criteria groups (C1: Nutrient levels, C2: Direct effect, C3: Indirect effect). The assessment is done on HELCOM Assessment Unit level 4: HELCOM Subbasins with coastal WFD water type or water bodies. The HEAT 3.0 has been applied for open sea assessment units using HELCOM core indicators and for coastal areas using national WFD indicators. In case of Denmark, the WFD results were used directly, displaying different classification as obtained from HEAT. For more information about the methodology, see the State of the Baltic Sea report and HELCOM Eutrophication assessment manual. Attribute information: "HELCOM_ID": ID of the HELCOM Level 4 Assessment unit "Country": Country/ Opensea "level_2": Name of the HELCOM Level 2 Assessment unit "Name": Name of the HELCOM Level 4 Assessment unit "Area_km2": Area of assessment unit "C1_N": MSFD criteria 1, number of indicators used for calculating Eutrophication Ratio (ER) "C1_ER": MSFD Criteria 1, ER "C1_SCORE": MSFD Criteria 1, Confidence of ER "C2_N": MSFD Criteria 2, number of indicators used for calculating ER "C2_ER": MSFD Criteria 2, ER "C2_SCORE": MSFD Criteria 2, Confidence of ER "C3_N": MSFD Criteria 3, number of indicators used for calculating ER "C3_ER": MSFD Criteria 3, ER "C3_SCORE": Criteria 3, Confidence of ER "N": Number of criteria used for calculating overall ER "ER": Overall ER "SCORE": Status confidence "STATUS": Status classification (Good (classes 0-0.5 & 0.5-1.0), Not Good (classes 1.0-1.5, 1.5-2.0 & >2.0), Not assessed) "CONFIDENCE": Final confidence class (< 50% = low, 50-74 % = Moderate, = 75 % = High) "AULEVEL": Level of assessment units

This core indicator evaluates the status of abundance of wintering waterbirds in the Baltic Sea region, here visualized for grazing feeders. The wintering 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 3 (Division of the Baltic Sea into 17 sub-basins and further division into coastal and offshore areas). Attribute information: "HELCOM_ID" = ID of the HELCOM scale 3 assessment unit "country" = Country "Group area" = Name of the group area "level_2" = Name of scale 2 HELCOM assessment unit (subbasin) "level_3" = Name of scale 3 HELCOM assessment unit "Area (km2)" = Area of HELCOM assessment unit "coastal" = HELCOM ID of the coastal areas "open_sea" = Open sea assessment unit name "Abundance" = Assessed parameter "Threshold" = Threshold value "Wading feeders" = Results for the category "Wading feeders status" = Status of the indicator (“Achieve”, “Fail” or “Not assessed”) "Surface feeders" = Results for the category "Surface feeders status" = Status of the indicator (“Achieve”, “Fail” or “Not assessed”) "Pelagic feeders" = Results for the category "Pelagic feeders status" = Status of the indicator (“Achieve”, “Fail” or “Not assessed”) "Benthic feeders" = Results for the category "Benthic feeders status" = Status of the indicator (“Achieve”, “Fail” or “Not assessed”) "Grazing feeders" = Results for the category "Grazing feeders status" = Status of the indicator (“Achieve”, “Fail” or “Not assessed”) "AULEVEL" = Assessment unit level used for the indicator

Observations of Ammodytes tobianus 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. Ammodytes tobianus has been placed to the Red List category of Least Concern (LC) species. The map shows the sub-basins in the HELCOM area where the species is known to occur regularly and to reproduce (HELCOM 2012).

This dataset describes fishing effort (hours/c-square) for Fishing effort for midwater trawl 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 represents the Integrated biodiversity status assessment for seals (grey seal, harbour seal and ringed seal). Status is shown in five categories based on the integrated assessment scores obtained in the tool. Biological quality ratios (BQR) above 0.6 correspond to good status. The status of the seals was assessed using four core indicators: population trends and abundance of seals, distribution of Baltic seals, nutritional status of seals, and reproductive status of seals. In the latter two only grey seals are considered for the 2018 State of the Baltic Sea report. The assessment is based on the one-out-all-out approach, i.e. the species reflecting the worst status in each assessment unit. This dataset displays the result of the integrated biodiversity status in HELCOM Assessment unit Scale 2 (Division of the Baltic Sea into 17 sub-basins). Attribute information: "HELCOM_ID" = ID of the HELCOM scale 2 assessment unit "level_2" = Name of the HELCOM scale 2 assessment unit "EcosystemC" = Ecosystem component analyzed "BQR" = Biological Quality Ratio "Conf" = Confidence of the assessment "Total_indi" = Number of indicators used "% of area assessed" = Share of the total assessed area "D1CX" = MSFD descriptor 1 criteria X "conf_D1CX" = Confidence for MSFD descriptor criteria X "Confidence" = Conifdence of the assessment ("high"/ "moderate"/ "low") "STATUS" = Status of the assessment (0-0.2 = not good (lowest score), 0.2-0.4 = not good (lower score), 0.4-0.6 = not good (low score), 0.6-0.8 = good (high score, 0.8-1.0 = good (highest score))

This core indicator evaluates the status of the marine environment based on concentrations of the tributyltin (TBT) and its breakdown products dibutyltin (DBT) and monobutyltin (MBT) in the Baltic Sea; in water, biota (mussels, marine gastropods) and sediments. Imposex effects of TBT on marine gastropods are used as another source of data on TBT. Quantitative thresholds are used to classify core indicators status in "Achieve", "Fail" or "Not assessed". Good status is achieved when the concentrations of TBT are below the threshold value. 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: "OBJECTID" = Object identification "HELCOM ID" = Code of the HELCOM scale 4 assessment unit "Descriptio" = Description of the HELCOM scale 4 assessment unit "AULEVEL" = Assessment unit level used for the indicator "Contamination ratio in biota" = Contamination ratio in biota for this substance "Status in Biota" = Status of the indicator in biota (“Achieve”, “Fail” or “Not assessed”) "Contamination ratio in water" = Contamination ratio in water for this substance "Status in water" = Status of the indicator in water(“Achieve”, “Fail” or “Not assessed”) "Contamination ratio in sediment" = Contamination ratio in sediment for this substance "Status in sediments" = Status of the indicator in sediment (“Achieve”, “Fail” or “Not assessed”) "Overall Status" = Overall Status of the indicator according to one-out-all-out (“Achieve”, “Fail” or “Not assessed”)