In December last year, we wrote a debate article on the serious situation of the cod in the Baltic Sea, published in the Swedish news paper "Dagens Nyheter". The cod stock is in crisis, as well as the policy managing it. This spring, the debate about trawling continues.
One of the Foundation's largest demonstration projects "Living Coast" has been published in the highly rated scientific journal Environmental Science & Technology.
During the summers of 2012 and 2013, the BalticSea2020 Foundation carried out an aluminium treatment project on the anoxic bottoms of Björnö Bay. The purpose was to help the bay’s sediment regain the ability to bind phosphorus. After the treatment, the Björnö Bay has achieved the same water quality it had in the 1950s.
The S-Congress has decided to introduce a total ban on bottom trawling in Sweden. The decision is entirely in line with the BalticSea2020's comprehension and ongoing work to save the Baltic Sea's genetically unique cod stock and support the small-scale coastal fishery.
On Monday, in conjunction with the Baltic Sea Future Congress, Mediaplanet's newspaper "Rädda Östersjön" (Save the Baltic Sea) appeared in the Swedish news paper "Svenska Dagbladet". BalticSea2020 director Conrad Stralka has written the newspaper's chronicle about the Baltic Sea cod, based on the Foundation's debate article, published in Dagens Nyheter on December 24, 2016.
BalticSea2020 are delighted to participate in the Baltic Sea Future Congress at Stockholm International Fairs in Stockholm on 6-7 March. Baltic Sea Future is a multidisciplinary congress initiated by the City of Stockholm, Stockholm University and the Sustainable Seas Foundation. With the help of scientists and good examples from the municipalities and companies the aim is to give municipalities greater knowledge, motivation and tools in efforts for a healthier Baltic Sea and achieve the EU's Baltic Sea Strategy and Agenda 2030, with the 17 sustainability goals adopted globally.
February 18 the Danish newspaper "Fiskeri Tidende" highlighted the project TABACOD (Tagging Baltic Cod), an international project that will examine the growth of eastern Baltic Sea cod. The work is conducted under the management of DTU Aqua (Karin Hüssy) and in partnership with the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), the Thünen Institute in Rostock (TI-OSF) and the National Marine Fisheries Research Institute in Gdynia (NMFRI). Researchers have since last June marked 4,500 cod in order to find out the age, growth and migration patterns - important information to investigate the prognosis of the cod stock.
For a long time, fishermen in the Baltic Sea have been affected by negative developments in the Sea. In recent times, both the growth and the condition of cod have deteriorated. What are the risks of diminishing fish growth and how have the growthpatterns of various fish species looked like over time?
BalticSea2020 has entered a collaboration with Chalmers University of Technology. To achieve an effective reduction of nutrients from ships, the project "Mapping of nutrition from shipping to the Baltic Sea" will identify and describe the major sources from shipping. The goal is to compile existing data on nutrient loads in various water emissions from shipping (black water, grey water, scrubbing discharges, food waste and NOx, i.e. mono-nitrogen oxide emissions). The project is funded by Thurséus forskarhem.
BalticSea2020 has written a debate article on the cod situation in the Baltic Sea. The article was published in the Swedish news paper "Dagens Nyheter" 24 December 2016 and tells about the very big challenges facing the cod stock in the Baltic Sea, but we also suggest what needs to be done if we are to have cod in the future. We must act now. Read the full article here (in Swedish).
Lack of thiamine (vitamin B1) among wild animals is a much more common problem than previously known. It shows a new comprehensive scientific report by researchers from 5 countries and 13 universities and other research institutions in Europe and North America, coordinated by Professor Lennart Balk at Stockholm University. The results were published yesterday in the scientific journal Scientific Reports, Stockholm University writes in a press release.
Today, Wednesday, November 16, work began on the Baltic Sea Centre at Skansen. BalticSea2020’s founder and chairman Björn Carlson was on the spot to turn the first spade and begin the construction of this world-class knowledge centre.
The foundation has decided to continue monitoring the effects of implemented measures in the Björnö bay in 2017, which means that it will be the 7th consecutive year of scientific monitoring within the project Living coast. The aim is to create a series of scientific data that shows changes in the bay over a long time.
The area of dead seabed continues to increase in the deeper parts of the Baltic Sea. At the same time eutrophication in coastal areas decreases.
The demonstration project Living coast started 2010 in Björnöfjärden, a bay in the Stockholm archipelago. The bay shows many similarities to the Baltic Sea, including heavy eutrophication, limited water exchange and high prevalence of anoxic bottoms. The nutrients, phosphorus and nitrogen, which reaches Björnöfjärden and contributes to eutrophication mainly comes from human activities in the area.
For seven years we have had the great privilege of having Fredrik Wulff as a member of the BalticSea2020 board. His deep knowledge of the Baltic Sea, sharp analysis and valuable feedback has been invaluable for the foundation’s work. We will miss Fredrik very much and are grateful for the time together.
IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute has published an article in the journal "Vatten" where researchers have investigated the total phosphorus measurements for ten sediment cores from the Bothnian Sea and the Baltic Proper.
A quarter of Sweden's wetlands have been lost through drainage, cultivation or lake level drawdown. Wetlands are important spawning and nursery areas for different animals, including pike. The wetlands provide shelter and food for the small pike fry during their first months in life.
Today HELCOM announced that IMO (The International Maritime Organization) decided to prohibit discharge of sewage into the Baltic Sea from passenger vessels.
Since spring 2015, it is prohibited for leisure boats to empty the sewage into the sea, rules that will start to apply for passenger ships in the Baltic Sea.
Folke is rewarded for his documentary films that portray the threats to the Baltic Sea. Folke has produced four films supported by BalticSea2020: For Cod’s Sake, Dirty Waters, The Second Wave and Shipping Pollution.
The films have not only spread a deepened picture of the Baltic Sea's problems but also influenced decision makers to take action.
Cod is an important species for the Baltic Sea, both as a top predator in the ecosystem and as a source of income for fisheries. Reliable estimates of the variation in population size are necessary in order to manage cod stocks; analyses of the cods’ age is vital. However, researchers have recently found it increasingly difficult to estimate the age of cod in the eastern Baltic, although this is a factor that must be considered when the European Commission decide the annual fishing quotas. Without reliable data, fishing quotas cannot be regarded as sustainable in the long term.