Introduction 5 Chapter 1: a description of the organisational structure set up for the implementation of the Strategy 6

and

- specific reference to the Biodiversity and Nature Conservation segment, as well as the Maritime Activities segment re. the HELCOM Ballast Water Road Map & 2004 IMO BWMC

- closely related to implementation and development of EU policies, including the Common Fisheries Policy

HELCOM Maritime work on alien species (see further below).

HELCOM Red List Project (2009-2013) to develop Red Lists of birds, marine mammals, macrophytes, benthic invertebrates and fish and lamprey species, and to update a Red List of Baltic Sea habitats/biotopes by 2013, including finalising a classification system for Baltic Sea habitats.

HELCOM-VASAB Joint Working Group on Maritime Spatial Planning and testing and applying of the newly adopted common principles for broad scale maritime spatial planning by 2012.

PlanBothnia project for piloting the use of the adopted common principles for broad scale maritime spatial planning.

HELCOM Fisheries and Environmental Forum for the implementation of the fisheries related items of the Baltic Sea Action Plan.

HELCOM SEAL work on the protection of seals in the Baltic Sea.

and

- additional national measures to minimise the effect of fishing on the marine ecosystems within their territorial waters and for fishing vessels flying their flag in line with, or more stringent than the existing Community legislation

- especially for the protection of the critically endangered Baltic harbour porpoise population

HELCOM Baltic Fisheries and Environmental Forum.

HELCOM has finalised a project in cooperation with ASCOBANS to build-up a database on harbour porpoise sightings, by-catches and strandings and now needs to ensure updating of the database

Need for actions

Establishment of a project on assessment of impacts of fishing activities within MPAs.

Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety Division KI II 5

Dörte Ratzmann (doerte.ratzmann@bmu.bund.de)

- Member States to complete the designation of a network of marine protected areas in the Baltic Sea / BSPAs

- adopted and implemented management plans that correspond to the threats towards the species or habitat they are created to protect

- designation of the Natura 2000 network in the Baltic Sea to be taken into account in the context of maritime spatial planning

- Coordination with measures under the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP)

(FAST TRACK)

Implementation of the BSAP and the HELCOM Moscow Ministerial Declaration related to the need to designate further MPAs especially in the EEZ and to develop management plans and measures for all BSPAs by 2015.

HELCOM’s Fisheries and Environmental Forum considers various issues and also measures that are under the CFP.

Need for actions

To consider joint activities for developing and implementing management plans and measures for protected areas, including a possible project on evaluating impacts of fisheries in MPAs and creating a toolbox of measures for management.

and

- enforcement of the international Ballast Water Management Convention and by means such as onboard treatment and the installation of ballast water reception facilities in ports with important traffic flows from and towards outside the Baltic Sea

- HELCOM countries agreed in the Baltic Sea Action Plan (BSAP) to ratify the Convention possibly by 2010, and by 2013 at the latest

- HELCOM Road Map has been agreed, focusing e.g. on the ballast water management and risk assessment for inner Baltic voyages

- HELCOM is working on joint OSPAR / HELCOM guidance on the voluntary interim application of ballast water exchange standards

Common decision has been reached that ballast water exchange should not be a management option in the Baltic Sea.

HELCOM has developed the list of alien species in the Baltic.

Joint HELCOM/OSPAR Guidance on voluntary ballast water exchange have been agreed for both incoming (BWM.2/Circ. 14) and outgoing traffic (BWM.2/Circ.22).

Guidance to distinguish between unacceptable high risk scenarios and acceptable low risk scenarios – a risk of spreading of alien species by ships on Intra-Baltic voyages has been adopted by HELCOM.

On-going activities

New HELCOM project “Pilot risk assessments of alien species transfer on intra-Baltic ship voyages” has been launched.

Sweden ratified the Convention on 23 November 2009, and the ratification process is on-going in other Baltic Sea countries.

HELCOM / OSPAR / REMPEC Guidance on voluntary ballast water exchange in the high seas by ships to/from Mediterranean agreed by HELCOM and awaiting adoption by other relevant regional commissions

Based on a classification and inventory of rivers with historic and existing migratory fish species (cf. HELCOM BSAP)

- national eel management plans are also expected to contribute to the restocking of this species

Overview of the state of salmon (Salmo salar) and sea trout (Salmo trutta) populations in rivers flowing to the Baltic Sea (DG MARE funded project, started in 2010)

Work within HELCOM Baltic Fisheries and Environmental Forum, in cooperation with ICES e.g. on:

• 
  strengthening of the knowledge base and information exchange on European eel
  

specific HELCOM BSAP Hazardous Substances segment

- full implementation of the key Directives and Regulations relating to chemicals

- supervision of compliance with Regulation (EC) 782/2003 which transposes the Antifouling Convention by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) into Community law

Revised HELCOM objective with regard to hazardous substances (in order to ensure that HELCOM always has the focus on hazardous substances of most importance/ most environmental harm in the region) was adopted as a part of HELCOM Moscow Ministerial Declaration (HELCOM Recommendation 31E/1)

- establishment of a prioritized list of landfills and other hazardous waste sites and municipal management schemes with a high risk of hazardous waste pollution to the Baltic Sea;

- pooling of financial resources in cooperation with IFI’s and implementation of pilot projects in North West Russia;

- assessment of the hazardous waste management regime and regulatory framework in support of Russian National Implementation Programme for HELCOM BSAP.

- identify the most important sources of 11 hazardous substances of special concern,

- quantify inputs of the selected substances to the Baltic Sea,

- analyze the pathways of the selected substances from production, processes and uses to the marine environment,

- develop cost-effective management options to reduce discharges

- analysis of the sources, flows and impacts of pharmaceutical products in the marine environment

Was taken into account within revision of HELCOM objective with regard to hazardous substances (HELCOM Recommendation 31E/1)

• 
  protect sensitive marine ecosystems, taking into account earlier work carried out by HELCOM.
  

Annual reports of Lead country (Denmark) on dumped chemical munitions at sea and HELCOM reports from 1994 and 1995, containing thorough information on the dumping sites as well as quantity, quality and potential impacts of the chemical munitions in the Baltic Sea

The 2010 HELCOM Ministerial Meeting established ad hoc Expert Group to update and review the existing information on dumped chemical munitions in the Baltic Sea (HELCOM MUNI).

maria.laamanen@helcom.fi

• 
  need to improve further the knowledge basis, including through the development of the planned BONUS 185Joint Baltic Sea Research and Development Programme
  

HELCOM CORESET project develops core hazardous substances indicators with target levels reflecting good environmental status

Work on monitoring of biological effects of hazardous substances, e.g. through the BEAST Project (funded from the BONUS Programme)

Need for actions

Further joint monitoring is required and considered within HELCOM in connection with a proposal to establish a project for review of HELCOM’s monitoring programmes

Finnish Environment Institute

Kari Lehtonen (kari.lehtonen@ymparisto.fi)

and

investigating the causality between chemical pressure and biological effects at different levels of biological organization

The project will also contribute to capacity building and strengthening of network via workshops (BEAST project financed by the Bonus Joint Baltic Sea Research and Development Programme)

Outcomes of the BEAST project will be taken into account in development of HELCOM CORESET indicators for hazardous substances

Chief Inspectorate for Environmental Protection

Katarzyna Biedrzycka (k.biedrzycka@gios.gov.pl)

• 
  Activities should encompass identification of the current priority threats and establishment of the costs and benefits of any possible action through agreed research programmes.
  
• 
  This should build on existing knowledge and mapping in the Baltic Sea.
  
• 
  The development of major offshore infrastructure projects should also take into account the location of underwater chemical weapon dumping sites
  

Annual reports of Lead country (Denmark) on dumped chemical munitions at sea and HELCOM reports from 1994 and 1995, containing thorough information on the dumping sites as well as quantity, quality and potential impacts of the chemical munitions in the Baltic Sea.

On the initiative of Germany and Poland, the 2010 HELCOM Ministerial Meeting established an ad hoc Expert Group to update and review the existing information on dumped chemical munitions in the Baltic Sea (HELCOM MUNI) that held its first meeting in 15 November 2010.

Swedish Geotechnical Institute

Göran Holm (goran.holm@swedgeo.se)

A guideline and a tool-box for treatment technologies, an assessment and decision support system will be developed, and field tests to validate and demonstrate treatment methods under various conditions will be performed.

SMOCS project financed by the Baltic Sea Region Programme

Deadline: 16 December 2012

and

to support regular updating of the thematic assessments, which assess whether HELCOMs strategic goals and ecological objectives have been reached, and whether the implementation of the Baltic Sea Action Plan has been successful. The indicators should be fully in line with Good Ecological Status (GES) as defined in the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive, and the ensuing guidelines or criteria

Likewise the HELCOM work is carried out within the field of eutrophication

Finnish Environment Institute

Ansa Pilke (ansa.pilke@ymparisto.fi)

Identifying the sources and inputs of 11 hazardous substances and substance groups which are addressed in the HELCOM BSAP, and develop measures to reduce the load of these substances. The project also aims at improving knowledge of best practices and capacity building (COHIBA- project co-financed by the EU Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007-13). (Lead: Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE). Deadline for finalisation: 2012)

The COHIBA approach for screening of sources of hazardous substances will be tested within the 2^nd phase of Balthazar Project in the Russian Federation

The Final Conference of the Project will be arranged on 11-12 October 2011 in Helsinki, Finland

ISI Fraunhofer Institute

Eve Menger-Krug (Eve.Menger-Krug@isi.fraunhofer.de)

• 
  mapping sources and evaluating cost-efficiency of measures to a set of emerging hazardous substances, e.g. pharmaceuticals.
  
• 
  innovative measures will be analysed in terms of cost-efficiency and ease of implementation.
  

Not yet started – only at the planning phase

Per Rosander (per.rosander@chemsec.org)

Jerker Ligthart (jerker@chemsec.org)

aims at bringing forward substances relevant for the environment in the Baltic Sea, such as the recommendations on hazardous substances made through the Baltic Sea Action Plan (BSAP) to the REACH candidate list

Swedish Medical Products Agency

Charlotte Unger (charlotte.unger@mpa.se)

establishing a network on pharmaceuticals with the focus on sustainable development where good practice and experience are exchanged between people with knowledge of medical products, health and environmental aspects within the region.

Kick-off meeting of the Flagship Project is preliminary planned in second half of 2011