This dataset contains all PAH in seawater station locationsas reported to HELCOM secretariat by HELCOM Contracting Parties by 2016.

Regional hunting numbers for Grey seals 2011-2014.

This dataset contains all heavy dioxins in biota monitoring station locations, observed matrix, biota matrix and monitored species as reported to HELCOM secretariat by HELCOM Contracting Parties by 2016.

Broad-scale habitat maps for the Baltic Sea have been produced in the EUSeaMap project in 2016. For German and Estonian marine areas, national (more accurate) datasets were used. German data included both substrate and light information (division into infralittoral/circalittoral). Estonian data included only substrate and the division into light regimes was obtained from the EuSeaMap data. Here, the habitat class “circalittoral hard substrate” includes classes “Rock and other hard substrate” and “Coarse substrate” of the original data, in the circalittoral zone. The original polygon maps have been converted to 1 km x 1 km grid. The scale of the substrate data used in broad-scale habitat maps varies from 1:250 000 to 1:1M (data from EMODnet Geology). Coarser resolution data has been used in areas, where 1: 250 000 substrate data has not been available. Due to different scales used, the habitat classes may show different sized patterns in different areas.

Broad-scale habitat maps for the Baltic Sea have been produced in the EUSeaMap project in 2016. For German and Estonian marine areas, national (more accurate) datasets were used. German data included both substrate and light information (division into infralittoral/circalittoral). Estonian data included only substrate and the division into light regimes was obtained from the EuSeaMap data. Here, the habitat class “circalittoral mud” includes classes “Fine mud”, “Sandy mud” and “Mud to sandy mud” of the original data, in the circalittoral zone. The original polygon maps have been converted to 1 km x 1 km grid. The scale of the substrate data used in broad-scale habitat maps varies from 1:250 000 to 1:1M (data from EMODnet Geology). Coarser resolution data has been used in areas, where 1: 250 000 substrate data has not been available. Due to different scales used, the habitat classes may show different sized patterns in different areas.

Estuaries (according to Habitats Directive Annex I) are coastal inlets that are strongly influenced by freshwater. The distribution map is based on data submission by HELCOM contracting parties. Most of the submitted data is based on modelling, GIS analysis and/or aerial photos. Data coverage, accuracy and the methods in obtaining the data vary between countries.

Esker islands (according to Habitats Directive Annex I) are glaciofluvial islands consisting mainly of relatively well sorted sand, gravel or less commonly of till. Also their underwater parts are included in the habitat. The distribution map is based on data submission by HELCOM contracting parties. Only Sweden and Finland reported occurrences of esker islands. Only underwater parts are included in the datasets. The data is based on modelling and GIS analysis. Data coverage, accuracy and the methods in obtaining the data vary between countries.

HOLAS II data set on Nuclear power plants discharge water outlets (name, delta temperature of water discharge, heat load) for 2011-2015. The coverage of the data set is full, except for the Leningrad power plant the data is not available.

The occurrence of suitable nursery habitats is crucial for maintaining fish populations (Sundblad et al. 2013). For perch, species distribution modelling studies (Snickars et al. 2010, Bergström et al. 2013, Sundblad et al. 2013) have shown the importance of suitable environmental conditions for reproduction. Due to lack of coherent data on perch spawning and nursery areas across the Baltic Sea countries, environmental variables were used in delineating potential recruitment areas for perch. The distribution area or perch recruitment is delineated by selecting areas where depth < 4 m (For Danish waters < 3 m), logged exposure < 5 (exposure model described in Isæus 2004), and salinity < 10 PSU. The threshold values have been obtained from literature (Snickars et al. 2010, Bergström et al. 2013, Skovrind et al. 2013, Sundblad et al. 2013). Relatively “loose” thresholds have been used, to rather overestimate than underestimate the recruitment area (precautionary approach). Along the Finnish coastline a national model has been used (Kallasvuo et al. 2016), with suitable environments for perch recruitment generalized to 1 km x 1 km grid.

This dataset contains all TBT in sediments monitoring station locationsas reported to HELCOM secretariat by HELCOM Contracting Parties by 2016.