Baltic Sea LME

The Baltic Sea Large Marine Ecosystem is located in northeast Europe, consisting of a catchment area of 1 720 270 km2, of which nearly 93% belongs to the nine riparian countries; Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia and Sweden. Five upstream states, Belarus, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Norway, account for the remaining 7% of the catchment area. The Baltic Sea is one of the largest brackish water areas in the world, is an almost enclosed sea, connected to the North Sea by the narrow and shallow waters of the Belt Sea and the Sound only. This is a sea consisting of a complex system of water basins, which can be further divided into several gulfs and bays. The physical characteristics of the Baltic Sea including its hydrographic, hydrochemical and biological properties as well as socio-economic characteristics, makes it very sensitive to anthropogenic pressures.

The Baltic Sea LME and its catchment area have a range of ecotones and biological diversity. Its brackish waters contain a mixture of marine and freshwater species. The coastal areas serve as spawning, nursery and feeding areas for several species of fish. The Baltic Sea LME is considered a Class I, highly productive (>300 gC/m2-yr) ecosystem based on SeaWiFS global primary productivity estimates.
In the Baltic Sea region the fisheries has traditionally played an important role as a source of food, especially in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Fishing in the Baltic is mainly focused on marine species, but also on some freshwater and anadromous species (i.e. migrate between the sea and rivers). The Baltic Sea ichthyofauna consists of approximately 100 fish species. Cod (Gadus morhua), herring (Clupea harengus), sprat (Sprattus sprattus) and salmon (Salmo salar) are the main commercially exploited in marine fisheries and the only species regulated by quotas established by the International Baltic Sea Fishery Commission (IBSFC).Fishing activities are affecting the species composition and the size distribution of the main target species as well as non-commercial fish stocks in the Baltic Sea region. The fishing pressure on the stock is one reason why many young fish have been caught before they have reproduced for the first time. The number of fish in the reproductive stage is estimated to be far below the sustainable limit. Despite regulations, fishing fleets continue to overexploit the fisheries resource in the Baltic Sea. Concerning the future a slight improvement is anticipated due the implementation of fishing regulations, however, cod stocks are not expected to recover in the near future.

The Baltic Sea is particularly vulnerable to pollution due to its unique natural conditions. Oxygen depletion is a natural problem in the Baltic, but eutrophication induced by nutrient pollution has considerably worsened this threat to marine ecosystems. Biodiversity and fish stocks have been affected, and exceptionally intense algal blooms have become more common. Increasing maritime transport in the Baltic poses an increasing threat to the marine environment. Some of the commercially important fish stocks in the Baltic Sea are currently exploited in excess of �safe biological limits�. This over-fishing can put entire marine ecosystems under pressure by changing their species composition and predator-prey ratios.
NEMO (Non-Indigenous Estuarine and Marine Organisms) is an inventory of alien species, maintained by a group of non-governmental Baltic marine biologists, which has recorded that close to 100 non-indigenous species have been introduced since the mid-1800s, including plankton, invertebrates, fish, birds and mammals. The Baltic Sea is a brackish sea that has only formed since the last Ice Age. Human induced changes have greatly affected the wildlife and ecosystems of the Baltic Sea. Some species have particularly suffered from pollution and disturbance. A couple of decades ago, the Baltic's seals and white-tailed eagles were almost driven into extinction. The vast majority of the marine and coastal biotopes around the Baltic Sea are to some degree threatened, and many of them are important for rare or endangered species.

Economically the riparian states can be divided into two groups: old market economy countries (Denmark, Finland, Germany and Sweden) and countries in transition (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, which have acceded to the EU in 2004, and Russia). The countries in transition have the most difficult socio-economic problems due to the political and economic changes they underwent in the early 1990s.
Environmental awareness in the Baltic Sea countries is well developed. Educational programmes in progress are, amongst others:

• Baltic University Programme: a network of 180 universities and other institutes of higher learning (Baltic University Programme 2003, 2004);
• Baltic Sea Project (BSP): including about 300 schools (Baltic Sea Project 2004);
• Baltic 21: an Agenda 21 for Education for sustainable development in the Baltic Sea Region (Baltic 21 2002).

All of the Baltic Sea region countries are signatories to the Helsinki Convention ( The Helsinki Commission, or HELCOM is the governing body of the Convention) and all, but Russia, are members of the European Union since 2004. The Baltic Sea has become almost an internal sea of the European Union. Policies in order to protect the Baltic Sea were defined clearly in the text of the two main documents: the Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area (Helsinki Convention 1992) and in the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD). The countries ratifying the Helsinki Convention are obliged to implement the requirements laid out in the Convention. In addition, the EU member states have to implement the EU Water Framework Directive before 2015.