marine research in finland - Baltic Marine Environment Bibliography

nevertheless, provided a basic coverage of the major aspects concerned. The second stage (1984-
1988) provided for a more frequent coverage of representative stations in the main sub-areas of
the Baltic, in addition to the requirements of the first stage. The experience gained during the
two previous stages was further used to improve the programme for the third stage, which
started in 1989. All the details of the programme are described in the Guidelines for the Baltic
Monitoring Programme for the Third Stage, which are published in the Baltic Sea Environment
Proceedings No. 27 A-D.
In 1992 the meeting of the Environment Committee (EC) agreed to abandon the five-year periodicity
of the Guidelines and replaced it with a more flexible one. A detailed discussion on the
revision and possible restructuring of the monitoring activities was also started at the same
meeting of the EC.
The defined aims of the Baltic Monitoring Programme, when established in 1979, were “to follow
the long-term (annual and longer periods) change (trends) of selected determinants in the
Baltic ecosystem”. However, the general sense of the programme expressed a broader goal as to
“provide data for the preparation of a more comprehensive assessment of the state of the Baltic
Marine environment”. According to this broad concept of monitoring, the programme included
from its very beginning both repeated measurements of known pollutants as well as measurements
of natural components and properties of the sea indicative of the ecological condition of
the sea area. Now that the BMP is under revision the general philosophy has been to have a
mandatory part for the “traditional” parameters and a more problem-oriented or project-oriented
type of work, a so called baseline part, where only a few laboratories would be involved on behalf
of the others, depending on their expertise. The baseline part should also be understood to
cover various types of monitoring of contaminants for which some information already exists
but which needs special expertise or equipment. Various types of studies of biological effects
could also be included in the baseline studies.
Furthermore, the EC has decided on another important issue; the existing monitoring programmes
for the open sea, for radioactive substances and for atmospheric input, as well as the
forthcoming programme for coastal monitoring have been joined under one organizational umbrella
- the Cooperative Monitoring in the Baltic Marine Environment - COMBINE. This was
done for management purposes in order to secure improved coordination, e.g. the introduction of
common and more stringent quality assurance procedures.
Since the aims of the BMP have already been agreed upon, there is now a need to formulate the
strategy and tactics to reach the aims. The fourth meeting of the EC endorsed the proposal to
arrange a workshop in spring 1994 to outline a revised BMP and Guidelines. It was also considered
of vital importance for the workshop to raise the issue of the demands from decision-makers
regarding the time frames of assessment of different parameters as well as the size of the trends
that the Monitoring Programme should be able to detect.
In connection with the sampling for the BMP and other research activities, some problems were
noted during previous years in relation to getting permission to enter the economical zones of
other Contracting Parties. In order to simplify the permission procedure, the Commission
adopted in 1991 the HELCOM Recommendation by which the countries were urged to facilitate,
and without unnecessary delay to grant, permits in connection with the BMP for research vessels
of all Baltic Sea States to carry out joint scientific studies of common interest.
Quality Assurance
Concern about the quality of the data collected within the BMP was already expressed at the
very beginning of the joint monitoring activities in the Baltic Sea. It was realized that periodic
intercalibration is a prerequisite for any successful coordinated monitoring programme. Several
laboratories around the Baltic Sea responsible for the BMP have participated in various intercalibration/comparison
exercises coordinated by the International Council for the Exploration of
the Sea (ICES) for over two decades now. Most of the exercises have been devoted to analyses
of trace metals, but exercises have also been carried out on organochlorines in biological tissue,
35