FISH and Race for the Baltic (RFTB) continued the road around the Baltic Sea, with stops in Åland and Finland. The days involved collecting over 2,000 signatures and learning about what local NGOs are working with in connection to the Baltic Sea as well as visiting the HELCOM Secretariat.
While in Åland we partnered up with Åland Nature & Environment (Åland Natur & Miljö), an local NGO working with nature and environmental issues. FISH and Race for the Baltic were invited to speak about the campaign and the environmental situation in the Baltic Sea during a panel debate with local politicans that Åland Nature & Environment hosted. The topics during the debate where i) the Baltic Sea as a special area for sewage control and ii) invading. Local press (see links below) where at the event where RTFB and FISH had the opportunity to speak about the Baltic Sea and our three asks:
1. REVIVE the biological diversity of the Baltic Sea.
2. RECOVER the natural wealth of the fish stocks in the Baltic Sea to ensure long-term sustainability.
3. RESTORE the water quality through a reduction of nutrients and pollutants flowing into the Baltic Sea.
One of the first stops in Finland was a visit at the Seili Marine Research Station located at Selli Island, a small island based in the Finnish Archipelago. Here the RFTB team meet with Ilppo Vuorinen, the director of the research centre who gave a more in-depth insight to the research taking place at the station. They focus on the Baltic Sea and the affect climate change and increased rainfall might have on the herring. They have seen a 25% reduction in herring length since the 1980’s as a result of multiple environmental factors simultaneously affecting the Baltic Sea.
The RFTB team stopped in Hangö for two days where we partnered up with The Finnish Society for Nature and Environment (FSNE), The Finnish Association for Nature Conservation (FANC) and Dodo during the Hangö Regatta. During the days the team collected over 1500 signatures and had the opportunity to talk to both visitors and regatta sailors about the state of the Baltic Sea.
During the last day in Finland FISH and Race for the Baltic together with the core partners Oceana and Coalition Clean Baltic visited the HELCOM Secretariat in Helsinki to discuss the HELCOM Ministerial Meeting, the Baltic Sea Action Plan (BSAP) and expectations on this meeting.
HELCOM is the governing body of the Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area – more commonly known as the Helsinki Convention. And works to protect the marine environment of the Baltic Sea from all sources of pollution through intergovernmental co-operation between the nine countries bordering the Baltic Sea (Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia and Sweden) the European Community.