Advancing biological effects monitoring in the Baltic Sea: insights from the BEACON project workshop

The workshop highlighted the project’s achievements and the collaborative efforts to enhance environmental monitoring. 70 participants from 7 countries around the Baltic Sea attended the workshop.

The workshop commenced with an introduction to the BEACON project, which aimed to foster the implementation of biological effects methods in assessing chemical contamination in the Baltic Sea.

Key presentations

Project introduction and background: Kari Lehtonen, the project’s coordinator from the Finnish Environment Institute, provided an overview, emphasising the need for improved biological effects monitoring in the Baltic Sea that has lagged behind other sea regions such as the Northeast Atlantic. The project, funded by the Interreg Baltic Sea Region, aimed at fostering the implementation of biological effects methods in monitoring in this region and integration of biological and chemical monitoring data to provide a more comprehensive assessment of chemical contamination status and environmental health of the marine region.

Biological effects methods: Ieva Barda from the Latvian Institute of Aquatic Ecology presented various biological effects methods consisting of biomarkers and bioassays. She explained how these methods can detect the impact of contaminants at different biological levels from molecular and cellular changes to population effects and highlighted their importance as early warning tools.

Integrated chemical and biological monitoring: Elena Gorokhova from Stockholm University introduced the Integrated Biological Effects of Contaminants (IBEC) tool developed by the project. This tool aggregates data from multiple biomarkers to assess the overall biological effects of contaminants. Gorokhova demonstrated its application using case studies from the Gulf of Riga and the Bothnian Sea.

Stakeholder survey results: Kari Lehtonen presented the findings of a stakeholder survey conducted across eight Baltic Sea countries. The survey revealed that financial limitations, lack of information of the methods, and regulatory issues are the main barriers in implementing biological effects monitoring. However, there is strong general support for making such monitoring mandatory.

Recommendations and guidelines: Natalja Kolesova from Tallinn University of Technology discussed the recommendations for biological effects monitoring in the Baltic Sea. She emphasised the importance of selecting appropriate monitoring sites and target species, ensuring quality assurance, and integrating biological effects data into existing monitoring programmes.

Stakeholder discussion: The workshop concluded with a panel discussion, where stakeholders had the opportunity to ask questions and share their perspectives. Key topics included the need for better data integration, the importance of international collaboration, and the potential for future projects to build on the achievements of the BEACON project.

Conclusion: The BEACON project workshop underscored the important role of biological effects monitoring in protecting the Baltic Sea’s marine environment. The project’s results are highly useful in obtaining a more holistic understanding of chemical contamination and environmental health, paving the way for more effective management and conservation strategies.

The project’s outcomes will be updated on the BEACON project website by the end of the year.

Title image: Ilkka Lastumäki

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