This dataset describes fishing intensity for subsurface mobile bottom contacting gear in 2011 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.

Observations of Palaemonetes varians 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. Palaemonetes varians has been placed to the Red List category of Data Deficient (DD) 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: 1 - Present before year 2000 or in 2000, 2 - Present after year 2000, 3 - Present both before and after year 2000.

Dataset description: The dataset contains data on locations of river monitoring stations of nutrients and hazardous substances inputs to the Baltic Sea reported to the HELCOM Pollution Load Compilation (PLC-water) database. The stations are categorized as hydrological (only flow monitoring) and chemical (monitoring of chemical components). The data is reported to the HELCOM database and quality assured by Contracting Parties to HELCOM in accordance with the HELCOM Guidelines for the annual and periodical compilation and reporting of waterborne pollution inputs to the Baltic Sea (PLC-Water Guidelines). Dataset content: Station code (st_code): unique HELCOM PLC code Station name (st_name). River code (r_code): unique HELCOM PLC code. Sub catchment code (subc_code): unique HELCOM PLC code Country code (c_code): DK; EE; FI; DE; LV; LT; PL; RU; SE. Sub-basin code (subb_code): ARC; BAP; BOB; BOS; GUF; GUR; KAT; SOU; WEB. Station category (st_cat): hydrological (H) and chemical (C). Latitude (st_lat). Longitude (st_lon). Reporting year (year). Country codes used in the dataset correspond to: DK-DENMARK; EE-ESTONIA; FI-FINLAND; DE-GERMANY; LV-LATVIA; LT-LITHUANIA; PL-POLAND; RU-RUSSIA; SE-SWEDEN. The Baltic Sea sub-basin codes used in the dataset are: ARC-ARCHIPELAGO SEA; BAP-BALTIC PROPER; BOB-BOTHNIAN BAY; BOS-BOTHNIAN SEA; GUF-GULF OF FINLAND; GUR-GULF OF RIGA; KAT-KATTEGAT; SOU-SOUND; WEB-WESTERN BALTIC. Visualization: Map - point feature class. Legend visualizes two categories of monitoring station: hydrological, chemical. Data update: Metadata is updated by HELCOM Secretariat annually by 1 April. The dataset is updated by HELCOM Secretariat annually by 1 April.

Observations of Spinachia spinachia 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. Spinachia spinachia 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).

Observations of Pelecus cultratus 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. Pelecus cultratus 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).

Dataset description: The dataset reflects spatial delineation of monitored and unmonitored catchments used for the assessment of waterborne nutrients inputs to the Baltic Sea sub-basins (Baltic Sea Environmental Fact Sheet) in the HELCOM Pollution Load Compilation. Polygonal features in the dataset cover entire river catchments without distinguishing between sub-catchments located in upstream countries. Some countries even combine unmonitored and monitored parts of river catchments into a single catchment. The Source Code attribute in the dataset corresponds to the Source_Code in the Assessment data on waterborne input of nutrients dataset. The data is reported to the HELCOM Map and Data Service (MADS) and quality assured by Contracting Parties to HELCOM in accordance with the HELCOM Guidelines for the annual and periodical compilation and reporting of waterborne pollution inputs to the Baltic Sea (HELCOM PLC-Water Guideline). Dataset content: Polygonal feature class contains the following attributes: Sub-catchment code (subc_code): Unique code for river catchments and unmonitored areas Sub-catchment name (subc_name): Name of river catchment or unmonitored area River code (r_code): Unique code of the river included in HELCOM PLC assessment. Sub-basin code (subb_code): The Baltic Sea sub-basin where the river drains to. Country code (c_code): The Country on which territory the river mouth is located, for border rivers both are mentioned. Monitoring (monitoring): The monitoring status of the river (M=monitored and U=unmonitored). Marked as monitored only if the catchment has been monitored for the entire time series. Transboundary (transboundary): Listing all countries that have the rivers drainage area on its territory. Area km2 (area_km2): The total area of the catchment in square kilometres. Year (year). Country codes used in the dataset correspond to: DK-DENMARK; EE-ESTONIA; FI-FINLAND; DE-GERMANY; LV-LATVIA; LT-LITHUANIA; PL-POLAND; RU-RUSSIA; SE-SWEDEN. The Baltic Sea sub-basin codes used in the dataset are: ARC-ARCHIPELAGO SEA; BAP-BALTIC PROPER; BOB-BOTHNIAN BAY; BOS-BOTHNIAN SEA; GUF-GULF OF FINLAND; GUR-GULF OF RIGA; KAT-KATTEGAT; SOU-SOUND; WEB-WESTERN BALTIC. Visualization: Map of catchments in the HELCOM Pollution Load Compilation. Data update: Metadata is updated by HELCOM Secretariat annually by 1 April. The dataset is updated by HELCOM Secretariat annually by 1 April.

This dataset contains all dioxins stations by sub-basin in the Baltic Sea as reported to the HELCOM MORE project.

The assessment results for pelagic habitats for the HELCOM Third Holistic Assessment of the Ecosystem Health of the Baltic Sea (HOLAS 3) based on integrating following indicators: Zooplankton mean size and total stock, Seasonal succession of dominating phytoplankton groups, Cyanobacterial bloom index, Diatom-dinoflagellate index. 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 datasets were created using the BEAT tool. https://github.com/helcomsecretariat/BEAT German coastal areas were assessed based on WFD indicators.

Summary Estimated observations of the biotope AA.I3L11, AB.I3L11, AA.J3L11 and AB.J3L11 were collected from the Baltic Sea area by expert judgements for HELCOM Red List of biotopes, habitats and biotope complexes. Description Baltic photic or aphotic coarse sediment dominated by multiple infaunal polychaete species including Ophelia spp Baltic photic or aphotic sand dominated by multiple infaunal polychaete species including Ophelia spp. and Travisia forbesii The HELCOM Red List of Baltic Sea underwater biotopes, habitats and biotope complexes (2013) is an updated and improved version of the Red List assessment of marine and coastal biotopes and biotope complexes published in 1998. The classification of the report follows the proposed International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) criteria and assessment principals but with some modifications for the Baltic Sea. Altogether, the HELCOM Underwater Biotope and habitat classification (HELCOM HUB) includes 209 biotopes of which 59 were red-listed. Many of the red-listed biotopes are located in deep areas of the Baltic Sea due to oxygen-free nature as well as in the southwestern Baltic Sea due to the salinity restricted distribution of species in certain biotope. The HELCOM assessment relies heavily on expert judgment and inference, and the questionnaire data represents the estimated presence-absence data not in-situ measured data. This must be taken in account when observing the map presentation. The biotopes are shown on the map using the EEA 100 km grid. This dataset displays estimated presence of AA.I3L11, AB.I3L11, AA.J3L11 andAB.J3L11according to HELCOM RED LIST assessment experts: The biotope occurs mainly in the southern and western parts of the Baltic Sea area, but is very rare. They are found in exposed abrasion areas (sandbanks, near-shore wave exposed shallow sublittoral). Kiel bight to Darss sill. The distribution map indicates the area in the 100 x 100 km grid where biotope is known to occur. AA.I3L11, AB.I3L11, AA.J3L11 andAB.J3L11have been placed in the Red List classification to the category of Near Threatened (NT) biotopes. (Data (expert judgements) collected in HELCOM RED LIST project, released in May 2013)

This dataset contains all HBCD stations by sub-basin in the Baltic Sea as reported to the HELCOM MORE project.