| | North-East Atlantic and Baltic Sea Health Check: Assessing the |
| | 0,59 | | MB | status of wildlife and habitats |
| | 79 | | stron |
| | 1210 | | ID | WWF Germany, Marine & Coastal Division |
| | 2003 | | rok |
| | Index |
| | 1. Introduction. 5 |
| | 2. The Marine Environment 5 |
| | 2.1 National Boundaries and Responsibilities . 7 |
| | 2.2 Commitments and Targets Related to the Marine Environment 7 |
| | 3. A Region Under Threat - The North-East Atlantic and Baltic Seas. 8 |
| | 3.1. The North-East Atlantic. 8 |
| | 3.2 Baltic Sea (including Kattegat). 12 |
| | 4. Threats to the Marine Environment and its Biodiversity . 13 |
| | 4.1 Hazardous Substances 13 |
| | 4.2 Nutrient Input . 16 |
| | 4.3 Pollution from Shipping and Man-Made Structures at Sea 19 |
| | 4.4 Damage to Marine Habitats and Species due to Fishing Activities .. 22 |
| | 4.5 Marine Litter .. 24 |
| | 4.6 Climate Change. 25 |
| | 4.7 Seafloor Dredging and Aggregate Extraction 26 |
| | 5. Conserving Marine Habitats and Species . 27 |
| | 5.1 International Efforts in Marine Biodiversity Conservation 27 |
| | 5.2 EU Marine Biodiversity Policy . 29 |
| | 5.3 Integrating Biodiversity Objectives within Sectoral Policies 30 |
| | 6. Habitats .. 31 |
| | 6.1 Soft Sediments and Offshore Mud Bottom Areas .. 31 |
| | 6.2 Seamounts 33 |
| | 6.3 Deep-water sponge fields. 34 |
| | 6.4 Cold-water coral reefs 35 |
| | 6.5 Offshore Sand and Gravel Beds 37 |
| | 6.6 Intertidal mudflats 40 |
| | 6.7 Eelgrass meadows 41 |
| | 6.8 Maerl beds 43 |
| | 6.9 Kelp banks 44 |
| | 6.10 Mussel Banks (Mytilus edulis) 46 |
| | 6.11 Chara sp. Meadows . 47 |
| | 7. Species Descriptions 49 |
| | 7.1 Long-tailed duck (Clangula hyemalis).. 49 |
| | 7.2 Fulmar (Fulmarus glacialis).. 50 |
| | 7.3 Alfonsinos (Beryx sp.) .. 52 |
| | 7.4 Common Skate (Dipturus batis, formerly Raja batis).. 53 |
| | 7.5 Baltic Sturgeon (Acipenser sturio) .. 54 |
| | 7.6 Atlantic Cod (Gadus morhua) 55 |
| | 7.7 Sharks . 57 |
| | 7.8 Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar).. 59 |
| | 7.9 Harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena).. 60 |
| | 7.10 Blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) . 62 |
| | 7.11 Bladderwrack (Fucus vesiculosus).. 64 |
| | 8. Summary and Conclusions.. 65 |
| | 8.1 Assessing the Status of the North-East Atlantic and Baltic Sea.. 66 |
| | 8.2 Current Management Efforts . 70 |
| | 8.3 Towards More Effective Management? 71 |
| | 8.4 WWF Call for Action. 72 |