Use constraints: Data can be used freely given that the source is cited (following creative commons license CC-BY). The source should be cited as: “HELCOM HOLAS 3 Dataset (2023)".

The dataset was created in order to update the information for the Baltic Sea Region for the HELCOM Assessments. Data was collected by the HELCOM Secretariat in 2022. The data were reported by Estonia, Finland, and Sweden. The activity was declared as not relevant in Germany, Latvia, and Poland.

National remarks:

Estonia: Summarized annual hunting data of cormorants based on data reported by users of hunting districts and recalculated to counties. Only data from 7 counties by the Baltic Sea are provided (Harjumaa, Hiiumaa, Ida-Virumaa, Läänemaa, Lääne-Virumaa, Pärnumaa, Saaremaa). Also, Estonian total number of hunted cormorants (from 15 counties) is given.

Small-game hunting data (amounts of hunted birds by species, incl. cormorants) are reported annually by users of hunting districts to the Estonian Environment Agency. It’s a legal obligation for them according to the Hunting Act. Hunting activities are randomly supervised by the Environment Board (formerly by the Environmental Inspectorate), who also makes compliance checks with the hunting permit requirements. Reported game-hunt data are consolidated into national annual hunting reports by Estonian Environment Agency. https://keskkonnaagentuur.ee/keskkonnaagentuuri-tegevusvaldkonnad/ulukid/valjaanded-ulevaated#ulukite-kttimisega-

Finland: Dataset details the number of cormorants shot according to reports related to hunting permits, provided by the Varsinais-Suomi ELY center, and statistics gathered by the government of Åland.

Hunting permits for cormorant control are governed by the Varsinais-Suomi ELY center, except for Åland, for which data was provided by the government of Åland. Hunting permits provided by the Varsinais-Suomi ELY center all included a detailed map of where hunting was allowed for the permit, except for permit VARELY/3509/2019, which only detailed that hunting was allowed at an aquaculture site. For permit VARELY/3509/2019, a 200-meter buffer was created around the aquaculture site to represent the approximate area. The maps from the other permits were georeferenced and then hand-traced to polygon shapefiles. Data received from the government Åland encompasses all felled cormorants for the entire region. Not all permits have had reporting done on the number of cormorants shot. These “no data” values have been given the value -9999 in the attribute table. Åland statistics: https://www.regeringen.ax/sites/www.regeringen.ax/files/attachments/page/resultat_skyddsjakt_2021.pdf

Sweden: Sweden: Total number of hunted cormorants reported for 2016-2020.

The total number of hunted cormorants reported for 2016-2020 in tabular (Excel) format. Will be georeferenced to counties by HELCOM Secretariat during HOLAS3 preparation.

National data provider:

Estonia: Estonian Environment Agency

Finland: Finnish Environment Institute

Sweden: Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management