HELCOM Identifies Core Features for Regular Assessment in the Baltic Sea

4 October 2011, Helsinki, Finland (HELCOM Information Service) - The Helsinki Commission Monitoring and Assessment Group (HELCOM MONAS) will take another step in setting up a Baltic-wide, indicator-based online information service by 2013. HELCOM MONAS will meet in Vilnius, Lithuania 4-7 October 2011 to review a set of proposed core indicators for the marine environment. The Meeting will also examine the nutrient reduction scheme of the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan. Furthermore, new information will be presented on sources and quantities of inputs of harmful substances into the Baltic Sea, as well as their effects on the state of the marine environment.

The meeting will pave way for the finalization of the full indicator-based follow-up system, which will enable the coastal countries to follow up on the state of the Baltic Sea and to make Baltic-wide up-to-date information available for the public and decision-makers. By 2013 the system will be set up in the HELCOM website.

The proposed set includes 18 core indicators for biodiversity and 13 for hazardous substances. In addition, HELCOM has already established a set of four eutrophication indicators. The total set of 35 core indicators is designed so that the implementation of the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan can be kept under scrutiny and that the EU states around the Baltic Sea can be assisted in the implementation of the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive.

Nutrient load reduction commitments will also be in the agenda. The nine Baltic Sea countries devoted to the Baltic Sea Action Plan (2007–2021) have agreed to review the nutrient reduction allocation scheme of the Plan using updated nutrient load data and ecosystem models. The HELCOM Contracting States should also include atmospheric inputs of nitrogen into the allocation system. The Meeting will discuss the principles of this review and consider the preliminary scenarios that illustrate the application of selected principles for nutrient load reduction allocation.

Various projects and experts groups have submitted reports to the MONAS meeting, which is organized for the 15^th time. Among them is the expert group on monitoring of radioactive substances which, inter alia, reports that radioactive fallout over the Baltic Sea from the Fukushima accident in Japan in March 2011 is very small, and that the corresponding radiological risks are estimated to be negligible.

HELCOM’s project on coastal fish will present a draft assessment of the state of coastal fish in the Baltic Sea. According to this draft assessment, human induced pressures have a greater effect on the changes in coastal fish communities than natural background changes. Two main pressures appear to be the catches in commercial fisheries and the coastal human populations.

The Meeting will also review a report on disposal of dredged materials at sea in 2007-2010. The report indicates that in 2007, which was the peak year for these activities, almost 13 million tonnes of dredged material was disposed of at the sea. Each year substantial quantities of hazardous substances such as heavy metals, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) ), as well as significant amounts of organotin compounds, are relocated due to dredging and subsequent disposal at sea. According to the report most of the dredging activities are carried out in harbours.

Note to Editors:

The Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission, usually referred to as the Helsinki Commission (HELCOM), is an intergovernmental organization of the nine Baltic Sea coastal countries and the European Community working to protect the marine environment of the Baltic Sea from all sources of pollution and to ensure safety of navigation in the region.

HELCOM is the governing body of the "Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area," more usually known as the Helsinki Convention.

For more information, please contact:

Maria Laamanen

Professional Secretary

HELCOM

Tel: +358 (0)46 850 9198

Fax: +358 (0)207 412 639

E-mail: maria.laamanen@helcom.fi

Skype: helcom 101

Johanna Laurila

Information Secretary

HELCOM

Tel: +358 (0)40 523 8988

Fax: +358 (0)207 412 639

E-mail: johanna.laurila@helcom.fi

Skype: helcom70

HELCOM