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

Regional hunting numbers for Ringed seals 2011-2014.

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

Number of hunted cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo) per year per county. A total sum and a calculated average (hunted individuals / year) is given for the time period 2011-2015. The data was made available by HELCOM Contracting Parties in response to data request. The data was received from Denmark, Estonia, Finland and Sweden. The activity was declared as not relevant in Germany, Lithuania and Poland. From Latvia and Russia no data was reported. Attribute specification and units: Country: Country County: County SUM: Total number of hunted individuals during 2011 – 2015 AVERAGE: A calculated five (or four) year average of hunted cormorants per year (hunted individuals/year) 2011 – 2015: Number of hunted cormorants in the year in question

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

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)

Reefs (according to Habitats Directive Annex I) are hard compact substrata (either biogenic or geogenic) on solid and soft bottoms, which arise from the seafloor in the sublittoral and littoral zone. Distribution of mapped Natura 2000 habitat “Reefs” based on data submission by HELCOM contracting parties. Most of the submitted data is based on modelling and limited ground-truthing. Data coverage, accuracy and the methods in obtaining the data vary between countries.

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.

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.

This map presents the Special Protection Areas (SPAs) with reported wintering areas for birds. The spatial data on SPAs 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.