HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan (BSAP) has the vision of a healthy Baltic Sea environment, with diverse biological components functioning in balance, resulting in good environmental/ecological status and supporting a wide range of sustainable human economic and social activities. The Plan, adopted by all the coastal states and the EU in 2007, aims to restore the good ecological status of the Baltic marine environment and provides a concrete basis for HELCOM work. It incorporates the latest scientific knowledge and innovative management approaches into strategic policy implementation, and stimulates goal-oriented multilateral cooperation around the Baltic Sea region. The BSAP is regularly updated in ministerial meetings (1).

The BSAP names major problem areas of the Baltic Sea ecosystem:

Eutrophication: “since the 1900s, the Baltic Sea has changed from an oligotrophic clear-water sea into a eutrophic marine environment. Eutrophication is a condition in an aquatic ecosystem where high nutrient concentrations stimulate the growth of algae which leads to imbalanced functioning of the system, such as: intense algal growth: excess of filamentous algae and phytoplankton blooms; production of excess organic matter; increase in oxygen consumption; oxygen depletion with recurrent internal loading of nutrients; and death of benthic organisms, including fish.

Excessive nitrogen and phosphorus loads coming from land-based sources, within and outside the catchment area of the Contracting States, are the main cause of the eutrophication of the Baltic Sea. About 75% of the nitrogen load and at least 95% of the phosphorus load enter the Baltic Sea via rivers or as direct waterborne discharges. About 25% of the nitrogen load comes as atmospheric deposition.” (1).

Hazardous substances: “pollution caused by hazardous substances refers to a massive number of different anthropogenic substances ending up in the marine environment including substances that do not occur naturally in the environment and substances occurring at concentrations exceeding natural levels. Although monitoring indicates that the loads of some hazardous substances have been reduced considerably over the past 20–30 years, problems still persist, and concentrations in the marine environment of some new substances have even increased. Once released into the Baltic Sea, hazardous substances can remain in the marine environment for very long periods and can accumulate in the marine food web up to levels which are toxic to marine organisms. Levels of some hazardous substances in the Baltic Sea exceed concentrations in e.g. the North East Atlantic by more than 20 times. Hazardous substances cause adverse effects on the ecosystem, such as: impaired general health status of animals; impaired reproduction of animals, especially top predators and increased pollutant levels in fish for human food” (1).

Biodiversity and nature conservation. “The Baltic Sea has a unique combination of marine and freshwater species and habitats adapted to brackish conditions. Favourable conservation status of Baltic Sea biodiversity is a prerequisite for the marine ecosystems to be resilient and able to adapt to changing environmental conditions” (1). This is threatened by loss of habitats, over-exploitation of the sea and the sea floor, poor water quality and changing conditions.

Maritime Activities: “The Baltic Sea is one of the most intensively trafficked areas in the world. Both the number and the size of the ships, especially oil tankers, have been growing during the last years, and this trend is expected to continue. This heavy traffic is being carried out within narrow straits and in shallow water, covered with ice for a long period, which makes the Baltic a difficult area to navigate and leads to traffic junctions and an increased risk of shipping incidents.

The main negative environmental effects of shipping and other activities at sea include pollution to the air, illegal and accidental discharge of oil, hazardous substances and other wastes, and introduction of alien organisms via ships’ ballast water and hulls” (1).