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 during 2022. The data were reported by Denmark, Estonia, Finland and Sweden.

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

National remarks:

Denmark: Reported number of Harbor Seals shot by Danish hunters summed per municipality. Harbor seal has been recorded in the Danish Bag Statistics since 2017. AU has validated data as part of a general quality check. https://fauna.au.dk/en/hunting-and-game-management/bag-statistics

Estonia: Summarized annual hunting data of grey seals based on data reported by users of hunting districts, recalculated to counties. Only data from 7 counties by the Baltic Sea are provided (Harjumaa, Hiiumaa, Ida-Virumaa, Läänemaa, Lääne-Virumaa, Pärnumaa, Saaremaa). Grey seal is the only seal-species that is allowed to hunt in Estonia.

The annual harvest quota for grey seals in Estonia is established by the Environmental Board - usually 1% of counted grey seals of previous year (monitoring data of abundance of grey seals), being 37-55 specimens a year (2016-2021). Users of hunting districts are obligated to notify Environmental Board of each hunted individual within 24 h period after a hunt. The number of hunted individuals are also 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 permits 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: Official Statistics of Finland: Hunting. The dataset covers the amounts of hunted seals in Finland during 2016-2021. Data is based on mandatory harvest reports made by hunters. Figures for Åland gathered by Finnish Environment Institute.

Harvest is reported to the Finnish Wildlife Agency. The quality of the data is good. Harvest reports are mandatory, and defaulting is sanctioned. https://statdb.luke.fi/PXWeb/pxweb/en/LUKE/

Sweden: Hunted seal species per county 2016-2021.

Swedish data is available on pointwise locations, but aggregated county values are applied in HOLAS3.

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, Finnish Environment Institute

Sweden: Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management