September 3, 2010
Baltic Sea Watch
While marine pollution poses serious long-term threats to the Baltic Sea, the most acute threat to its ecosystem is short-sighted industrial-scale commercial fishing practices. Their destructive impact is magnified by the systematic failure of the Baltic coastal governments to vigorously enforce existing laws and regulations on catch limits, by catch control, and habitat preservation.
Last week a member of our team attended a very informative WWF Baltic Sea seminar in Stockholm. Take a look at the latest WWF report: Future Trends in the Baltic Sea 2010 (which you can find here). We also had an opportunity to listen to a team from the Stockholm Resilience Center present their work on plotting the “ecosystem boundaries” of the Baltic Sea. Meaning, they are looking to determine the scientific maximum for everything from toxic input to fishing, that the Baltic can take to achieve a favorable environmental status.
Keep an eye out for Oceana Europe news in the coming months, as we begin to unveil our planned efforts in the Baltic Sea.