BSEP116B Biodiversity in the Baltic Sea - Helcom

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128 and fish in the Baltic Sea area. These activities are often localized and short-term, but whenever they proceed during extended periods, they may exclude animals from vital feeding or breeding areas thus causing temporary habitat degradation. As far as the impact of noise pollution is concerned, industrial activities such as construction and extraction appear to be of particular concern in the Baltic Sea besides the increasing volume of shipping. Noise of less critical frequencies to marine animals but of a chronic nature, such as that derived from shipping, operating wind farms and highfrequency ship SONAR, may in the long-term pose a more serious risk to marine animals e.g. by masking important biological signals. With an anticipated increase in marine traffic (see Chapter 6.2, Maritime activities) and an increasing number of existing and planned technical installations (see Chapter 6.3, Physical damage and disturbances), noise pollution must be considered to be a growing pressure to the biodiversity of the Baltic Sea. 6.9 Hunting Regardless of the stepping into an industrialized world, hunting has continued to be an important part of human activities, also in the Baltic Sea area. Only quite recently, it can be said that hunting no longer provides a significant food source for people. Nevertheless, hunting is still a popular recreational activity and can in some cases be considered also as a management measure in nature conservation or in mitigating harmful interactions between man and nature. However, in this section hunting is perceived mainly as a pressure to biodiversity in the Baltic Sea. 6.9.1 Hunting of sea birds Waterfowl hunting has a long tradition in the Baltic Sea littoral states. However, in recent times hunting has decreased as seen in the declining bag size of ducks. One reason for this decrease are hunting restrictions due to the EU Birds Directive. Furthermore, the general interest of hunting seabirds seems to decline (Bregnballe et al. 2006). On the other hand, the bag size of geese shows an increasing trend in several countries (e.g. Poland, Estonia, and the German Federal State Schleswig-Hostein). One reason may be the increasing populations of greylag goose (Anser anser) and Canada goose (Branta canadensis) in the Baltic Sea area. The most important group of game birds are ducks, both dabbling and diving ducks. The species number for which hunting is permitted varies among the countries. In Denmark and Finland, for instance, hunting is practised on 6 dabbling duck and 8 diving duck species, in Sweden on 3 and 8, respectively, whereas the hunting law of the German Federal States Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern assigns hunting seasons only for 3 dabbling and 2 diving duck species. Among the diving ducks, the eider (Somateria mollissima) was, and still is, one of the most important target species for hunters, especially in Denmark, Sweden, and Finland (Figure 6.9.1). The total eider bag of the Baltic Sea area has declined from 150 000–250 000 birds in the 1980s to currently 70 000–80 000. The strong hunting pressure in the 1980s did not prevent the population from growing, though it possibly led to a decline of growth rates. On the other hand, hunting is certainly not the main reason for the currently negative population trend, but it may enhance the decline. Another important game duck is the mallard (Anas plathyrhynchos). The Danish bag of this species was 554 000–731 000 ducks between 1999/00 and 2003/04. However, the majority of the birds was released from breeding stations just for hunting purposes. In Finland, the mallard bag was 210 000–295 000 birds between 2003/04 and 2006/07. In the German Baltic Federal States Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the mallard accounts for more than 90% of the duck bag. The most important game goose in the southwestern Baltic Sea (Denmark and Germany) is the greylag goose (Anser anser), but white-fronted goose (Anser albifrons), bean goose (Anser fabalis), pink-footed goose (Anser brachyrhinchus), Canada goose (Branta canadensis) and barnacle goose (Branta leucopsis) are also being hunted. Goose hunting is also practised in Finland, Sweden, Estonia and Poland (Table 6.9.1). In Finland, the
ean goose holds the largest share of the goose bag, followed by greylag goose and Canada goose. In Sweden, the top three species are the same but in an opposite order. Gulls have been shot in high numbers during the 20th century with the aim to control the population number. The Danish annual gull bag during the 1960s/1970s was in the magnitude of 150 000–230 000 birds (Strandgaard & Asferg 1980). Since then it has declined to 28 000–36 000 (mainly herring gull Larus argentatus, followed by great black-backed gull Larus marinus; Bregnballe et al. 2006). In Finland, the annual permits for gulls (mainly L. argentatus and L. marinus) are in “tens of thousands” (BirdLife Finland). In Sweden, about 22 000 gulls were shot in 2005/2006, the bag consisting mainly of common gull L. canus and herring gull. The gull Eider bag 250000 200000 150000 100000 50000 0 1958 1963 1968 1973 1978 1983 1988 1993 1998 Total Denmark Finland Sweden Figure 6.9.1. The development of the eider bag in Denmark, Finland and Sweden. The Finnish data does not include Åland. Data provided by the Danish National Environmental Research Institute, Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Institute and the Swedish Association for Hunting and Wildlife Management. 2003 Table 6.9.1. Waterfowl bag of the Baltic Sea littoral countries. Country Bird group Annual hunting bag Remarks Source Denmark Estonia Finland Germany – S chleswig –Holstein Germany – Mecklenburg- Western Pomerania Ducks Geese Gulls Cormorants Ducks Geese Gulls Cormorants Ducks Geese Ducks Geese Gulls Cormorants Ducks Geese Gulls Cormorants 200 000–250 000 18 000–29 000 28 000–36 000 2 400–4 900 7 000–17 700 900–4 800 0–200 0–354 443 000–608 000 15 000–24 000 60 000–70 000 4 500–8 500 800–1 100 100–1 100 7 100–15 500 2 300–11 700 100–300 200–1 600 1999/00–2003/04 Bregnballe et al. (2006) 1992/93–2007/08 Statistics Estonia http://pub.stat.ee 2003/04–2007/08 Hunters’ Central Organisation & Finnish Game and Fisheries Research Institute 1996/97–2006/07 MLUR SH 2007 2005/06–2006/07, no gull hunting 2002–2005 1992/93–2006/07 1992/93–2007/08 2005/06–2007/08 1992/93–2007/08 Latvia Waterfowl 2 500–3 000 2005–2006 Lithuania no information Poland Russia, Kaliningrad region Russia, St Petersburg region Sweden Ducks Geese Gulls Ducks Geese Gulls Cormorants 100 000–160 000 4 000–17 000 no game bird no information no information 101 000 32 000 22 000 2 000 LU MV 2006 1990/91–2007/08 Research Station of the Polish Hunting Association 2005/06 Swedish Hunting Association 129
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Baltic Sea Environment Proceedings
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Published by: Helsinki Commission K
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TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE . . . . .
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6.6 Hazardous substances . . . . .
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1 INTRODUCTION 8 1.1 An integrated
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Box 1.1. Biodiversity The term biod
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of saline water from the North Sea
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14 On a global scale, marine ecosys
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Box 1.2. Regime shifts in the Balti
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2 MARINE LANDSCAPES AND HABITATS 18
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From an ecological point of view, a
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Box 2.1.2. The Baltic marine landsc
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• A coherent data set on benthic
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Denmark Estonia Finland Germany Lat
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Mud-sandflat, Greifswald Lagoon, Ge
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3 COMMUNITIES Communities are assem
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32 Spring bloom index 1200 1000 800
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34 Unusual events and new species i
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36 Depth limit (m) the Gulf of Both
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Number of species 16 14 12 10 8 6 4
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Figure 3.2.7. Left panel shows pred
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Implications for the Baltic Sea Act
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Biomass (wet weight, mg per m 2 ) B
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the other hand, is not selected by
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iomass can be used to assess enviro
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Average number of species 20 15 10
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52 Macoma baltica where the influen
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the total BT identified for each ma
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Recruitment (thousands) 8000000 700
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Alien species Several alien fish sp
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4 SPECIES The number of species in
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Table 4.1.1. Results of dedicated a
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Number of stranded porpoises 180 16
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is recommended to survey harbour po
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Number of individuals 12000 10000 8
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Mean blubber thickness (mm) 40 35 3
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Breeding pairs 60000 50000 40000 30
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predation on nests and nesting adul
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sites outside the Baltic, decreased
Page 80 and 81: Table 4.3.1. Development of the pop
Page 82 and 83: 80 Number of breeding pairs 3000 25
Page 84 and 85: The strategic goal of the BSAP to h
Page 86 and 87: for a given site or area. The secon
Page 88 and 89: Mussel bed reef community, Jasmund,
Page 90 and 91: Table 5.3. Assessment results of th
Page 92 and 93: Aerial photo of harbours seals (Pho
Page 94 and 95: 6 HUMAN PRESSURES ON BIODIVERSITY A
Page 96 and 97: Table 6.1.1. Catch range during the
Page 98 and 99: Baltic herring trawling, Bothnian B
Page 100 and 101: 6.1.3 Major international framework
Page 102 and 103: 100 Oil turnover (millions of tonne
Page 104 and 105: NOx emissions and sewage Macrophyte
Page 106 and 107: Communication links There are a num
Page 108 and 109: Figure 6.3.3. Left: concrete-stone
Page 110 and 111: ecommendations would contribute to
Page 112 and 113: Tourist fishing 110 cial fishery fo
Page 114 and 115: 112 Figure 6.5.1. Integrated classi
Page 116 and 117: can be considered as having been a
Page 118 and 119: Although no direct, dramatic mass m
Page 120 and 121: Bearing in mind the complex hydrogr
Page 122 and 123: Box 6.7.1. Invasion status of the B
Page 124 and 125: Table 6.7.1. Examples of ecological
Page 126 and 127: munities that formerly consisted of
Page 128 and 129: 6.8.2 Activities generating noise i
Page 132 and 133: 800 700 600 bag of the two German B
Page 134 and 135: Fish swarm on kelp (Laminaria sp.)
Page 136 and 137: tion of ice cover, either through r
Page 138 and 139: 7 STATUS OF THE NETWORK OF MARINE A
Page 140 and 141: Box 7.1. Natura 2000 network of pro
Page 142 and 143: 25 20 on how the criteria on ecolog
Page 144 and 145: estrial, nearshore marine, and offs
Page 146 and 147: 144 >30 psu 18-30 psu 11-18 psu 7.5
Page 148 and 149: Permission needed Restricted Forbid
Page 150 and 151: Figure 7.8.a. MARXAN ’best portfo
Page 152 and 153: The BSPA network is relatively well
Page 154 and 155: Mammals. Among the mammals, the pop
Page 156 and 157: 154 taxonomic groups and communitie
Page 158 and 159: 156 provided by an ecosystem. Use o
Page 160 and 161: 158 Reduction of human pressures Wh
Page 162 and 163: 160 fishing on fish population dyna
Page 164 and 165: 162 Baden, S., Boström, C. (2001).
Page 166 and 167: 164 Season 2001-2002. Acta Zoologic
Page 168 and 169: 166 Gasiūnaitė, Z.R., Cardoso, A.
Page 170 and 171: 168 HELCOM & OSPAR (2003): Joint HE
Page 172 and 173: 170 ICES (2008c). Report of the Bal
Page 174 and 175: 172 area: density-dependent effects
Page 176 and 177: 174 Noer, H., Clausager, I., Asferg
Page 178 and 179: 176 Scheffer M., Carpenter S.R., Fo
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178 by passive acoustic monitoring.
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180 Warzaw, Poland Vilhunen, Jarmo,
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182 6.7 Alien speices Authors: Lepp
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ANNEX III: CONSERVATION STATUS OF T
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ANNEX IV: HABITAT OR SPECIES DISTRI
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ANNEX V: STATUS OF BREEDING AND WIN
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