This dataset is built from the following Human activities dataset: • Hunting of seals The number of hunted seals (see separate metadata on hunting of seals) were averaged over 2011-2014 separately for grey seals, ringed seals and harbour seals (e.g. number of hunted grey seals / year). In Sweden the numbers of hunted grey seals in 2011 (74) were reported for the whole Swedish territorial waters), but here the numbers were set only to Swedish Gulf of Bothnia, as corresponding numbers were reported there in 2013 (75) and 2014 (65). The area of the reporting unit was used to calculate the number of hunted seals / km2 and the data was converted to 1km x 1km grid. For the Baltic Sea Impact Index, the values were normalized. Normalized value 0.5 was set to the level of quota for hunting of seal species in the Baltic Sea. The following quotas for hunting were used: Grey seal: 2000, Ringed seal: 350, Harbour seal 230.

Data for Furcellaria harvesting presenting the amount of dredged tonnes per unit area per year. The data was made available by HELCOM Contracting Parties in response to data request. The data was received from Estonia. The activity was declared as not relevant in Denmark, Germany, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia and Sweden. Attribute specification and units: Dredged_ar: Furcellaria dredging area (km2, ND = no data available) Area: Area (fishing area) within dredging occurs (km2), area do not represent actual dredging area. 2011 - 2015: Amount of dredged Furcellaria (tonnes / year) Total: Amount (Sum) of dredged Furcellaria during 2011-2015 (tonnes) Average: Calculated annual average of the amount of dredged Furcellaria (tonnes/year)

Large shallow inlets bays (according to Habitats Directive Annex I) are large, shallow indentations of the coast, sheltered from wave action and where, in contrast to estuaries, the influence of freshwater is generally limited. The distribution map is based on data submission by HELCOM contracting parties. Most of the submitted data is based on GIS analysis and modelling, but also field inventories and ground-truthing has been carried out in some areas. Data coverage, accuracy and the methods in obtaining the data vary between countries.

This dataset contains all PCB in sediment monitoring station locations 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 “infralittoral mud” includes classes “Fine mud”, “Mud to sandy mud” and “Sandy mud” of the original data, in the infralittoral zone. The original polygon maps have been converted to 1 km x 1km 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.

Mudflats and sandflats not covered by seawater at low tide (according to Habitats Directive Annex I) are often devoid of vascular plants, usually coated by blue algae and diatoms. They are of particular importance as feeding grounds for wildfowl and waders. The distribution map is based on data submission by HELCOM contracting parties. Only Denmark, Germany and Estonia reported occurrences of mudflats and sandflats. Most of the submitted data is based on modelling and/or GIS analysis. Data coverage, accuracy and the methods in obtaining the data vary between countries.

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

Locations of the coastal protection structures. The dataset contains information about the coastal defence structure type and for some the structure length (m) and the year of construction. The data was made available by HELCOM Contracting Parties in response to data request. The data was received from Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Finland, Poland and Sweden. The activity was declared as not relevant in Lithuanian area. From Latvia and Russia no data was reported. Attribute specification and units Country: Country Type: Modification structure type Const_year: Year of construction Estimated: Estimated date of completion if under construction (Estonia) or the year of environmental permit if year of construction is lacking (Finland) Out_of_use: Year when costal defence structure has been taken out of use Measure: Additional information about the modification structure Length: Length of the modified coastline (m) width: Width of the modification structure (m) Area: Area of the modification structure (km2) X_Lon: Original X (Longitude) coordinate point (Finland)

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 “infralittoral sand” includes classes “Sand” and “Muddy sand” of the original data, in the infralittoral zone. The original polygon maps have been converted to 1 km x 1km 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.

The dataset contains data on bridges and other constructions. The dataset is constructed from Open Street Map “roads” shapefiles downloaded through Geofabrik by extracting all features where attribute bridges=1. It should be noted that the dataset contains major bridges and all other smaller constructions that have been classified as bridges in Open Street Map. The coverage for the dataset is whole Baltic.