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 Denmark, Estonia, Finland and Sweden.

The activity was declared as not relevant in Germany, Latvia and Poland.

The data is mostly based on voluntary reporting by huntsmen and therefore the game bag does not necessarily represent the exact value of hunted individuals. As a consequence, the data holds large uncertainties and is probably underestimated.

The number of hunted birds were mostly reported per county, and for that reason the value is given to all coastal cells within the county and within 3 nautical miles from the shoreline.

National remarks:

Denmark: Reported number of seabirds shot by Danish hunters summed per municipality. Hunters provide the information of spatial distribution with reference to municipalities.

Huntable sea ducks has been recorded in the Danish Bag Statistics since 1941. AU has validated data as part of a general quality check. https://fauna.au.dk/en/hunting-and-game-management/bag-statistics

Estonia: Based on data reported by users of hunting districts and recalculated to counties. Only data from 7 Estonian counties by the Baltic Sea are provided (Harjumaa, Hiiumaa, Ida-Virumaa, Läänemaa, Lääne-Virumaa, Pärnumaa, Saaremaa). Also Estonian total number of hunted marine birds species (from 15 counties) is given. Velvet scooter (code: VSc) is not in a national list of small-game, therefore it is not allowed to hunt and no data available. Eider (Eid) and long-tailed duck (LTD) are excluded from the national small-game list since 2016 and are not allowed to hunt any more. Thus, from HOLAS 3 marine birds indicator-species only a common scooter (Sco) is in the list of small-game in Estonia.

Small-game hunting data (amounts of hunted birds by species) 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: The dataset includes information on the amount of hunted common eider and long-tailed duck in the Finnish marine area during 2016-2021. Common scoter and Velvet scoter are protected species in Finland. The data for 2016-2019 is estimated based on the national hunting sample survey. From 2020 onwards the data consists of mandatory harvest reports made by hunters.

Åland data is recorded as “no data”, as they do not keep stats.

Data for 2016-2019 includes a great amount of uncertainty. Very few respondents of national hunting survey report bag for common eider or long tailed duck, and those who hunted these species tend to report large bags. Therefore, confidence intervals for 2016-2019 estimates are high. From 2020 onwards the data is based on mandatory harvest reports. From 2019 on female eider and its young of the year has been temporally protected throughout the year. https://statdb.luke.fi/PXWeb/pxweb/en/LUKE/

Sweden: Game hunting seabirds for 2016-2020 from Viltdata on county scale.

The data for game hunting seabirds for each region can be underestimated as the data between national and regional are referred to a different count system. https://www.viltdata.se/

National data provider:

Denmark: Aarhus University (AU) on behalf of the Danish Environmental Agency.

Estonia: Estonian Environment Agency

Finland: Natural Resource Institute Finland/Finnish Wildlife Agency

Sweden: Viltdata