This dataset represents the underlying data on core indicator in Abundance of key coastal fish species. The core indicator evaluates the abundance of typical species of fish, such as perch and flounder, in the coastal areas of the Baltic Sea, to assess environmental status. Quantitative thresholds are used to evaluate if core indicators status is Good, Not good or Not assessed. As a rule, good status is achieved when the abundance is above a set site and species-specific threshold value. 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: "COUNTRY" = Country code "DATAPROVID" = Data provider "AREANAME" = ICES area "A_unit" = Name of scale 3 HELCOM assessment unit "IND_VALUE" = Result value for the indicator "METHOD" = Catch method "GEARTYPE" = Gear type of catch "SEASONID" = Season

This dataset represents the underlying biota data on core indicator Heavy metals – Mercury.The core indicator evaluates the status of the marine environment based on concentrations of heavy metal Mercury (Hg) in fish muscle. Quantitative threshold value is 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. The Core indicator 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 (HG = Mercury) "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 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

This dataset describes fishing effort (hours/c-square) for longlines in 2012 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 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: "HELCOM_ID" = Code of the HELCOM scale 4 assessment unit "level_2" = name of subbasin "Area (km2)" = Area of the HELCOM scale 2 assessment unit "L2" = ID for the HELCOM scale 2 assessment unit "AULEVEL" = Assessment unit level used for the indicator "STATUS" = Status of the indicator (“Achieve”, “Fail”, "Not assessed" or “Not applicable”)

This dataset was collected by HELCOM Secretariat during the HELCOM MORE project and represents monitoring stations in the Baltic Sea. This dataset contains all nutrient stations in the Baltic Sea as reported to the HELCOM MORE project.

Observations of Limosa limosa 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. Limosa limosa has been placed to the Red List category of Near Threatened (NT) species. The map shows the species range only during breeding season.

The dataset contains the location of fossil fuel energy production facilities derived from the European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (E-PRTR). E-PRTR cover all HELCOM Contracting Parties except Russia. Attribute specification and units: See E-PRTR code lists at https://www.eionet.europa.eu/schemas/eprtr/listOfValues In the HELCOM data review process, some facility locations appeared to be spatially slightly misplaced, adding up to uncertainty of data products derived from this dataset.

This dataset describes fishing intensity for SSC DMF 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.

Summary This dataset was collected by HELCOM Secretariat during the HELCOM MORE project and represents monitoring stations in the Baltic Sea Description This dataset contains all nutrient stations in the Baltic Sea as reported to the HELCOM MORE project. It was collected and published at the beginning of 2013.The data came originally from the CORESET project. Contracting Parties were then asked to complete and check the info.The dataset was updated in 18 February 2015 with Finnish and Swedish monitoring stations reported by the end of 2014 as requested in HELCOM STATE 1-2014 meeting. Following update was done in 11 September 2015 regarding Polish stations following update request in HELCOM STATE & CONSERVATION 2-2015 meeting.