Ecosystem services provided by the Baltic Sea ... - Naturvårdsverket

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SWEDISH ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY Report 5873 • Ecosystem services provided by the Baltic Sea and Skagerrak Economic Marine Information unpleasant smell. However, composting may be able to solve this problem. Toxic content of mussels and other marine resources may confer additional problems. Mussels accumulate and sustain high levels of various toxins. When used as fodder and fertilizer, toxic contents may be transferred to crops and consumers. Figure 16. Source: Bernes 2005 (14). Extraction of material for construction and filling For decades, marine aggregates have been extracted and used for land filling and construction in ports and other coastal areas. There are several examples of how port- and recreational areas have benefited from this activity (174). Sediment extraction is of increasing economical importance in many regions of the Baltic Sea area. In Germany, 1.25 million m 3 of sand for beach nourishment and 147 000 m 3 for construction were extracted during 2006. In the same year, 2.2 million m 3 was extracted from the Gulf of Finland and used for the construction of the new port of Helsinki. In Finland, there are also plans to carry out major extractions in Loviisa area, in the Gulf of Finland as well as in the Pori Area, in the Bothnian Sea. In 2003 – 2004 Denmark extracted a total of 1 million m³ from three areas in the Baltic to use at a new artificial beach resort near the island of Amager, Copenhagen. In 2006 Denmark extracted another 1.57 million m 3 from Baltic waters. In Sweden limited extraction of marine aggregate was carried out in the areas of S. Middelgrund in the early 1990s, Västra Haken and Sandflyttan. According to SGU, the latter two are characterized by sand reserves of high quality and should be preserved for future use in glass production (175). Since 1998, however, there has been no permitted marine extraction. An application in 2003 to dredge 500 000 m 3 sand for beach nourishment purposes at the bank of Sandhammaren off the coast of Scania, southwest Baltic, was turned down, following the recommendations of the Geological Survey of Sweden (SGU) and SEPA. The recommendations referred to natural ongoing beach erosion and to the site being situated within a Natura 2000 area. The last permission concerned the non-aggregate dredging of a new stretches for part of the Flint shipping channel between the island of Saltholm and the coast of Scania in connection with the building of the Öresund Link between Sweden 107
SWEDISH ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY Report 5873 • Ecosystem services provided by the Baltic Sea and Skagerrak Economic Marine Information and Denmark. All the material dredged was used for construction of an artificial islands south of the Saltholm Island at the Danish side of the Sound. Oil extraction The use of fossil carbon sinks under the seafloor may be lucrative and Swedish oil prospecting is underway (176). Oljeprospektering AB (OPAB) is planning for oil prospecting in the Dalders area, southeast of Gotland in the southern Baltic Sea, where the boarders of Sweden, Poland and the Baltic states meet. OPAB estimates the chances of finding high quality oil at about 30 %. According to OPAB, the source in the Dalders area could be considerable, generating 2 – 4 billion EUR to the Swedish government in taxes. OPAB are expected to present an EIA shortly, which will have to be approved by the government before prospecting can begin. Already, oil prospecting and production is carried out in the Polish and Russian economic zones. Interaction with other ecosystem services The provision fodder and fertilizer is linked to the presence of fish stocks, shellfish and algae, which in turn is intimately linked to services such as biogeochemical cycling, maintenance of habitat, maintenance of biological and genetic diversity, primary production, and food web dynamics as well as to the maintenance of ecosystem resilience. In turn, the extraction of marine living resources may affect supporting and regulating services, with ultimate consequences for other provisioning services like the availability of food and genetic resources. The provision of raw material such as sand and gravel for construction and landfill is affected primarily by physical factors such as waves, currents, runoff, and topography and as a consequence, the distribution of different bottom types. The use of this service may in turn affect regulating services such as sediment retention and protection against coastal erosion. Status, threats and consequences Status Sustainability of use Level of threat Expected consequences Good? Unsustainable? Moderate Moderate This service includes a variety of goods many of which have little in common. Most stocks fished for fodder are still considered within safe biological limits. However, applying an ecosystem approach, one may ask how this extensive fishing affects food web dynamics. Like marine food for consumption, the species fished are currently faced with a number of ecosystem threats including over-fishing, eutrophication, distorted food webs and habitat loss. As for non-living resource, 108
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Ecosystem services provided by the
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