Baltic Sea Pilot Project BALSAM

Testing new concepts for integrated environmental monitoring of the Baltic Sea

• Supports HELCOM work on coordinated monitoring of the Baltic and the MSFD monitoring work (Art 11) of EU Member States

• Supports the development of the HELCOM Monitoring Manual (to be online in October 2014)

• Provides recommendations for coordinated monitoring of environment and fisheries, seals and seabirds, non-indigenous species and benthic habitats, as well as further coordinated use of research vessels.

BALSAM – EU co-funded ”New Knowledge” pilot project (460 000€)

1. Coordinator HELCOM Secretariat2. Aquabiota, Sweden (non-profit research institute)3. Baltic Environmental Forum, Latvia (NGO)4. Estonian Fund For Nature, Estonia (NGO)5. Estonian Marine Institute, Estonia (public research institute)6. Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency, Germany (public

research institute)7. Finnish Environment Institute, Finland (public research institute)8. Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Institute (public research

institute)9. Instytut Meteorologii I Gospodarki Wodnej – PIB, Poland (public

research institute)10. Klaipeda University, Lithuania (university)11. Latvian Fund for Nature, Latvia (NGO)12. Latvian Institute of Aquatic Ecology, Latvia (public research

institute)13. Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research Warnemuende, Germany

(public research institute)14. Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute, Sweden

(SMHI)15. Swedish Museum of Natural History, Sweden (public research

institute)16. Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia (university)17. University of Gdansk, Poland (university)18. WWF Finland (NGO)19. Århus University, Denmark (university, public research institute)

WP1 Project Coordination and cooperation for integrated monitoringWP lead: HELCOM Secretariat, Project CoordinatorPartners: - Aquabiota (Sweden), Baltic Environmental Forum Latvia (BEF LV), Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE), Estonian Marine Institute (EMI), Klaipeda University (KUCORPI, Lithuania), Latvian Institute of Aquatic Ecology (LIAE), Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research Warnemünde (IOW, Germany), Polish Institute of Meteorology and Water Management from Gdynia (IMGW), Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI), Tallinn University of Technology (TUT, Estonia), Århus University (AU, Denmark) Stakeholders: Roshydromet, State Oceanographic Institute (SOI)

WP2 Fisheries and environmental monitoring

WP lead: HELCOM SecretariatPartners:Institute of Meteorology and Water Management from Gdynia (IMGW), SMHI,SYKE Stakeholders:Thünen Institute of Baltic Sea Fisheries (TI-OF) External assistance: ICES

WP6 Baltic Sea benthic biotopes and habitats,

WP Lead: Baltic Environmental Forum Latvia (BEF LV)Partners: Latvian Institute of Aquatic Ecology (LIAE), AquaBiota Water Research ABWR AB (AquaBiota), Estonian Marine Institute (EMI), Klaipeda University (KUCORPI)

WP3 Marine mammals and seabirds

WP Lead: Århus University (AU)Partners:Latvian Fund for Nature (LFN), Swedish Museum of National History (SMNH), Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Institute (FGFRI),WWF Finland, Estonian Fund for Nature (EFN),

WP4 Non-indigenous species

WP Lead: HELCOM SecretariatPartners:Estonian Marine Institute (EMI), University of Gdansk (UG), Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH), Latvian Institute of Aquatic Ecology (LIAE), SYKE

External assistance: BSH, HELCOM, UG

WP5 coordinated international use of research vessels for monitoring

WP Lead: Tallinn University of Technology (TUT) Partners:SYKE, IMGW, Latvian Institute of Aquatic Ecology (LIAE), SMHI, Leibniz Institute for Baltic Sea Research Warnemünde (IOW)

Upcoming outcomes• Action plan to improve data flows and processes for

environmental and fisheries data + workshop• Joint methods for seal monitoring + proposals for

further improvements in monitoring, databases• Platform on seabird monitoring + proposals on how to

coordinate monitoring in the future, metadatabase• Report on NIS monitoring for MSFD and IMO BWMC• Online platform on research vessels, planned cruises,

enhanced access• Manual for monitoring of benthic habitats

Published and presented to HELCOM groups

Thank you!