Algae migrating northwards in Baltic

"On the last day of our summer holiday we sailed to the north of Åland in our little boat. In a bay on an islet in one of the most northerly of the islands we encountered blue-green algae for the first time - it looked a bit like pea soup. When we returned further south to swim, at a spot where the water had been crystal clear earlier in the day, we couldn't even see the seabed,"Harriet Lindeman, a member of the Åland Cabinet, said at the start of her speech to the conference about the eutrophication of the Baltic Sea.

Lindeman added that unless all the countries bordering the Baltic Sea help do something about the situation, the Åland islands will end up like a desert in the middle of the sea, unable to do anything about their own plight.

Agriculture is the largest single source of pollution - and the cause of the outbreak of dangerous blue-green algae, experts agreed as they presented the results of their studies of emissions into the Baltic.

The Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference (BSPC) working party published a discussion booklet before the start of the conference and everybody who spoke outlined the causes and effects of pollution, possible practical solutions and the need for a co-ordinated policy for the whole Baltic Sea Region. The agenda also included how to co-ordinate national policies with the various EU directives and facilitate the coexistence of environmental considerations, the water directive and environmental issues.

Russian representatives were able to relate a hopeful story about agricultural emissions. Several of them pointed out that emissions have been substantially reduced. "Phosphorous and nitrogen emissions are both down and the new treatment plants have made a huge difference to the quality of the water in the Baltic Sea," Leonid Korovin, director of ecology and business in St Petersburg, reported.

Vladislav Minin, head of the Academy Management and Agro Business in the Russian Federation, explained that rural districts have set up their own networks based on the clear conviction that environmentally friendly country life is a precondition for a rich marine life in the Baltic.

Raimonds Vejonis, the Latvian Minister of the Environment, pointed out that the whole of Latvia has been designated as a particularly sensitive area. As a result, permission has to be sought for all emissions and any emissions that cause pollution are subjected to an environment tax. Michal Wojtczak of the Polish Senate's Agriculture and the Environment Committee quantified the reductions in emissions of phosphorous and nitrogen facing agriculture in his country - 60% for phosphorous, 80% for nitrogen.

The Secretary General of Helcom, Anne Christine Brusendorff, talked about her organisation's new action plan for the sea and explained that Helcom aims to encourage all the governments around the Baltic to ratify it in 2007. Among the measures called for are cleaner sewage, better treatment of animal fertilisers and the use of phosphate-free washing powder. She pointed out that if the clean water target is to be achieved then phosphorous content must be cut by 35% and nitrogen emissions by 10%.

The chair of the working party, Asmund Kristoffersen, believes that its recommendations will help improve the Baltic environment.

For more information, contact:

Asmund Kristoffersen, chair of the working party
asmund.kristoffersen@stortinget.no
+4793063614

Jens Nytoft Rasmussen, Advisor
jnr@norden.org
+4524699453

Source:

Nordic news www.norden.org

Nordic Council of Ministers
+45 33 96 02 00, nmr@norden.org
Nordic Council
+45 33 96 04 00, nordisk-rad@norden.org
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