Overfishing, pollution, too many nutrients: the condition of the Baltic Sea is permanently poor. Climate change is also weakening the ecosystem, according to the Helsinki Commission in its annual report.
The condition of the Baltic Sea has improved little to not at all in recent years. That shows one Helsinki Commission Report for the protection of the marine environment of the Baltic Sea (HELCOM). Accordingly, the ecosystem of the Baltic Sea is under enormous pressure due to the loss of biodiversity and human influences.
The report examines the state of the Baltic Sea in the period from 2016 to 2021. The greatest threats to the Baltic Sea ecosystem include overfishing, pollution and the accumulation of nutrients, for example from wastewater or heavily fertilized agricultural land.
It is said that climate change is also increasingly having an impact on the Baltic Sea region. It leads to rising water temperatures, reduced ice cover and an increase in extreme weather events.
Improvement only in a few regions
In some parts of the Baltic Sea, marine pollution has been reduced thanks to regional agreements, but in most regions there has been little improvement.
According to the report, some animal species are having a hard time off the German Baltic Sea coast, for example. The situation for water birds in the Bay of Kiel and the Bay of Mecklenburg as well as in the Arkona Basin, in which the island of Rügen is located, is very bad. The porpoise population in the Arkona Basin is also under pressure.
Species under multiple stresses
German researchers were also involved in the HELCOM report, including Jan Dierking from the Geomar Helmholtz Center for Ocean Research Kiel. “Many species are exposed to multiple stresses due to climate change and other human influences,” explains the marine ecologist.
Only a combination of measures can help to improve marine habitats and protect the unique biodiversity of this region, on which many people depend.