This map presents the Special Protection Areas (SPAs) with reported breeding areas for birds. The spatial data on Special Protection Areas were gathered from the HELCOM contracting parties by Lund University, Sweden. In the data, the countries also indicated whether the sites were designated mainly due to wintering or breeding birds in the area. For Denmark, the information was obtained from standard forms for Natura 2000 sites. For Denmark, the data was updated after review process 20 February 2017. For Germany, the areas that were reported as “NA”(=information not available) were included in both breeding and wintering area maps. Many of the SPAs are both wintering and breeding areas. For the Baltic Sea Impact Index, the data was converted to 1 km x 1km grid cells.

This dataset contains data that was collected for the HELCOM report on Pharmaceuticals in the Baltic sea (http://helcom.fi/Lists/Publications/BSEP149.pdf). UNESCO and HELCOM, 2017 (to be published). Status report on pharmaceuticals in the Baltic Sea region. Baltic Sea Environment Proceedings No. 149. Partly funded by Interreg Baltic Sea Region (EU Strategy support through Policy Area Hazards). Financial support was provided by Interreg Baltic Sea Region, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA). The report was prepared as a case study for the UNESCO-IHP International Initiative on Water Quality (IIWQ) UNESCO project: Emerging Pollutants in Wastewater Reuse in Developing Countries. Case Studies on Emerging Pollutants in Water and Wastewater. The dataset contains compound name, species, biota matrix, concentrations and whether compound has been detected in the sample. This dataset presents a compilation of concentrations and effects of pharmaceuticals in the Baltic Sea marine environment based on data collected by all Baltic Sea states via working groups of the Helsinki Commission, HELCOM. Data collected between the years 2003 to 2014, from coastal, open sea and transitional areas, was received from Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Poland and Sweden. • 4600 individual data posts were included in the complete data set • 167 different pharmaceuticals have been measured and 74 of these were found in at least one of the sampling matrices (water, sediment, biota) • 51 different pharmaceuticals have been detected in water (of 148 measured) • 9 different pharmaceuticals have been detected in sediment samples (of 25 measured) • 35 different pharmaceuticals have been detected in biota samples (of 116 measured) • Pharmaceuticals from all drug classes were detected See HELCOM BSEP 149 report chapter ”3. Data collection methodology and data availability” for further information.

The dataset contains information on commercial fishery in Baltic Sea in 2007 (Lithuanian data from 2008). Catches/landings are given per ICES rectangle, both as total values and per fishing gear type. The dataset contains information on commercial fishery in Baltic Sea in 2007 (Lithuanian data from 2008). Catches/landings are given per ICES rectangle, both as total values and per fishing gear type. The gear categories are: 0 = unspecified, 1 = surface and mid-water gears, 2 = bottom trawling gears and 3 = coastal and stationary gears. All values are in tons. Data was requested from HELCOM contracting parties through HELCOM HOLAS project. Landings/ catches data from Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia is based on national data, while Russian data is based on the ICES report "Report of the Baltic Fisheries Assessment Working Group (WGBFAS)" (2008). Commercial fishery data was reported by the following persons/authorities to HELCOM Secretariat: Germany:Dr. Christopher Zimmermann (Institut für Ostseefischerei (OSF), Johann Heinrich von Thünen-Institut (vTI), Bundesforschungsinstitut für Ländliche Räume, Wald und Fischerei) Lithuania: Open sea: Irina Jakovleva (Fisheries Reguliation Division, Baltic Sea Fisheries Department, Fisheries Department under the Ministry of Agriculture); coastal: Rimantas Repecka (Head of Laboratory of Marine Ecology, Institute of Ecology of Vilnius University) Sweden: Jarl Engquist (Avdelningen för fiskerikontroll, Swedish Board of Fisheries) Latvia: Marina Fettere (Fishery and Information section, Latvian Fish Resources Agency) Finland: Pirkko Söderkultalahti (Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Institute) Estonia: Ministry of Agriculture Denmark: Troels Pade (The Danish Directorate of Fisheries, Ministry for Food, Agriculture and Fisheries) Russia: no contact person, data from ICES reports Poland: Malgorzata Marciniewicz-Mykieta (Departament Monitoringu i Informacji o Srodowisku, Glówny Inspektorat Ochrony Srodowiska).

This dataset describes fishing effort (hours/c-square) for longlines in fourth 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. 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 describes fishing effort (hours/c-square) for mobile bottom-contacting gear in 2011based 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 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 describes fishing effort (hours/c-square) for mobile bottom-contacting gear in 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.

The dataset contains information on commercial longlines fishery in Baltic Sea in 2007 (Lithuanian data from 2008). Total catches/landings are given per ICES rectangle in tons. The catches/landings per ICES rectangle are also given per species. The dataset contains information on commercial longlines fishery in Baltic Sea in 2007 (Lithuanian data from 2008). Total catches/landings are given per ICES rectangle in tons. The catches/landings per ICES rectangle are also given per species. Data was requested from HELCOM contracting parties through HELCOM HOLAS project. Landings/ catches data from Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia is based on national data, while Russian data is based on the ICES report "Report of the Baltic Fisheries Assessment Working Group (WGBFAS)" (2008). Commercial fishery data was reported by the following persons/authorities to HELCOM Secretariat: Germany:Dr. Christopher Zimmermann (Institut für Ostseefischerei (OSF), Johann Heinrich von Thünen-Institut (vTI), Bundesforschungsinstitut für Ländliche Räume, Wald und Fischerei) Lithuania: Open sea: Irina Jakovleva (Fisheries Reguliation Division, Baltic Sea Fisheries Department, Fisheries Department under the Ministry of Agriculture); coastal: Rimantas Repecka (Head of Laboratory of Marine Ecology, Institute of Ecology of Vilnius University) Sweden: Jarl Engquist (Avdelningen för fiskerikontroll, Swedish Board of Fisheries) Latvia: Marina Fettere (Fishery and Information section, Latvian Fish Resources Agency) Finland: Pirkko Söderkultalahti (Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Institute) Estonia: Ministry of Agriculture Denmark: Troels Pade (The Danish Directorate of Fisheries, Ministry for Food, Agriculture and Fisheries) Russia: no contact person, data from ICES reports Poland: Malgorzata Marciniewicz-Mykieta (Departament Monitoringu i Informacji o Srodowisku, Glówny Inspektorat Ochrony Srodowiska) Abbreviation of species ABK=White Bream; ACC=Ruffe; ACH=Charr; ALR=Bleak; ANE=European anchovy; ANF=Anglerfishes; BLL=Brill; CAT=Rockfishes; CGO=Goldfish; COD=Cod; CRA=Marine crabs; CRE=Edible Crab; CSH=Common shrimp; DAB=Dab; DGS=Sourdog/Spint Dogfish; ELE=Eel; ELP=Eelpout; FAS=Asp; FBM=Bream; FBR=Freshwater breams; FBU=Burbot; FCC=Crucian carp; FCP=Common carp; FGR=Grayling; FID=Orfe (=Ide); FIE=Common dace; FLE=Flounder; FLX=Flatfishes; FPE=Perch; FPI=Pike; FPP=Zander (Pikeperch); FRD=Rudd; FRF=Freshwater fishes; FRO=Roach; FRU=Ruffe; FSB=Silver bream; FTE=Tench; FVE=Vendace (Cisco); FVI=Freshwater Vimba; GAR=Garfish; GPA=Gobies; GTA=Three-Spined Stickleback; GUG=Grey Gurnard; HAD=Haddock; HAL=Halibut; HER=Herring; HKE=Hake; HOM=Horse Mackarel; JAX=Jack and horse mackerels; LAR=River lamprey; LAU=Sea lamprey; LBE=European Lobster; LEM=Lemon Sole; LIN=Ling; LUM=Lumpfish; MAC=Mackerel; MLR=Thicklip Grey Mullet; MON=Monkfish; MQS=Four Spined Sculpin; MTL=Thick-lipped Mullet; MUL=Grey mullets; MUS=Blue mussel; MUX=Surmullets (= Red mullets); MZZ=Marine fishes; NBU=Round Goby NEP=Norway lobster; NOP=Norway pout; OTH=Other sp; PLA=Long-rough dab; PLE=Plaice; PLN=European Whitefish; POK=Saithe; POL=Pollack; PPZ=Common Prawn; PRA=Northern Pink Shrimp; SAL=Salmon; SAN=Sandeels; SKA=Skates, rays; SKB=Sticklebacks; SME=Smelt; SOL=Sole; SPR=Sprat; SQU=Squids; SRA=Atlantic searobins; SRE=Rudd; TAS=Twaite Shad; TGQ=Fourhorn Sculpin; TRB=Rainbow Trout; TRO=Trouts; TRR=Rainbow Trout; TRS=SeaTrout; TSD=Twaite Shad; TUR=Turbot; UNK=Unknown Catches; USK=Tusk; WEG=Greater Weever; WHB=Blue Whiting; WHF=Whitefish, Houting, Powan; WHG=Whiting; WIT=Witch; VIV=Vimba bream.

The dataset contains information on commercial traps and pots fishery in Baltic Sea in 2007 (Lithuanian data from 2008). Total catches/landings are given per ICES rectangle in tons. The dataset contains information on commercial traps and pots fishery in Baltic Sea in 2007 (Lithuanian data from 2008). Total catches/landings are given per ICES rectangle in tons. Gillnet gears (included in the gear category 3, coastal and stationary gears) includes falling gears, live-bait gears set gillnets, trammel nets, handlines and pole-lines. The catches/landings per ICES rectangle are also given per species. Data was requested from HELCOM contracting parties through HELCOM HOLAS project. Landings/ catches data from Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia is based on national data, while Russian data is based on the ICES report "Report of the Baltic Fisheries Assessment Working Group (WGBFAS)" (2008). Commercial fishery data was reported by the following persons/authorities to HELCOM Secretariat: Germany:Dr. Christopher Zimmermann (Institut für Ostseefischerei (OSF), Johann Heinrich von Thünen-Institut (vTI), Bundesforschungsinstitut für Ländliche Räume, Wald und Fischerei) Lithuania: Open sea: Irina Jakovleva (Fisheries Reguliation Division, Baltic Sea Fisheries Department, Fisheries Department under the Ministry of Agriculture); coastal: Rimantas Repecka (Head of Laboratory of Marine Ecology, Institute of Ecology of Vilnius University) Sweden: Jarl Engquist (Avdelningen för fiskerikontroll, Swedish Board of Fisheries) Latvia: Marina Fettere (Fishery and Information section, Latvian Fish Resources Agency) Finland: Pirkko Söderkultalahti (Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Institute) Estonia: Ministry of Agriculture Denmark: Troels Pade (The Danish Directorate of Fisheries, Ministry for Food, Agriculture and Fisheries) Russia: no contact person, data from ICES reports Poland: Malgorzata Marciniewicz-Mykieta (Departament Monitoringu i Informacji o Srodowisku, Glówny Inspektorat Ochrony Srodowiska) Abbreviation of species ABK=White Bream; ACC=Ruffe; ACH=Charr; ALR=Bleak; ANE=European anchovy; ANF=Anglerfishes; BLL=Brill; CAT=Rockfishes; CGO=Goldfish; COD=Cod; CRA=Marine crabs; CRE=Edible Crab; CSH=Common shrimp; DAB=Dab; DGS=Sourdog/Spint Dogfish; ELE=Eel; ELP=Eelpout; FAS=Asp; FBM=Bream; FBR=Freshwater breams; FBU=Burbot; FCC=Crucian carp; FCP=Common carp; FGR=Grayling; FID=Orfe (=Ide); FIE=Common dace; FLE=Flounder; FLX=Flatfishes; FPE=Perch; FPI=Pike; FPP=Zander (Pikeperch); FRD=Rudd; FRF=Freshwater fishes; FRO=Roach; FRU=Ruffe; FSB=Silver bream; FTE=Tench; FVE=Vendace (Cisco); FVI=Freshwater Vimba; GAR=Garfish; GPA=Gobies; GTA=Three-Spined Stickleback; GUG=Grey Gurnard; HAD=Haddock; HAL=Halibut; HER=Herring; HKE=Hake; HOM=Horse Mackarel; JAX=Jack and horse mackerels; LAR=River lamprey; LAU=Sea lamprey; LBE=European Lobster; LEM=Lemon Sole; LIN=Ling; LUM=Lumpfish; MAC=Mackerel; MLR=Thicklip Grey Mullet; MON=Monkfish; MQS=Four Spined Sculpin; MTL=Thick-lipped Mullet; MUL=Grey mullets; MUS=Blue mussel; MUX=Surmullets (= Red mullets); MZZ=Marine fishes; NBU=Round Goby NEP=Norway lobster; NOP=Norway pout; OTH=Other sp; PLA=Long-rough dab; PLE=Plaice; PLN=European Whitefish; POK=Saithe; POL=Pollack; PPZ=Common Prawn; PRA=Northern Pink Shrimp; SAL=Salmon; SAN=Sandeels; SKA=Skates, rays; SKB=Sticklebacks; SME=Smelt; SOL=Sole; SPR=Sprat; SQU=Squids; SRA=Atlantic searobins; SRE=Rudd; TAS=Twaite Shad; TGQ=Fourhorn Sculpin; TRB=Rainbow Trout; TRO=Trouts; TRR=Rainbow Trout; TRS=SeaTrout; TSD=Twaite Shad; TUR=Turbot; UNK=Unknown Catches; USK=Tusk; WEG=Greater Weever; WHB=Blue Whiting; WHF=Whitefish, Houting, Powan; WHG=Whiting; WIT=Witch; VIV=Vimba bream

This dataset describes fishing effort (hours/c-square) for all gear types in 2009 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.