Baltic Sea May Soon Be Too Polluted For Fishing Or Recreation W/O Cleanup Plan - Der Spiegel

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The Baltic Sea is sick. From massive algae blooms to an invasion of dangerous jellyfish, the sea may soon be too polluted for both the fishing industry and for vacationers -- unless a new pollution control plan is successful.

The news brought back to port by the Aranda was not good. First, the 59-meter (194-foot) research vessel happened across an invasive species of jellyfish in the eastern Gulf of Finland -- the same creature already responsible for decimating fisheries in the Black Sea and Caspian Sea. Second -- and more concerning -- the Helsinki-based ship found rising levels of phosphorous in the waters off Poland and Russia. Phosphorous is a by-product of agricultural runoff and human waste -- and it's a warning that massive, deadly algae blooms could be on the horizon.

The ship cruises the Baltic Sea on behalf of the Finnish Institute of Marine Research, monitoring the sea's vital signs. For years they have not been good, with fisheries suffering, pollution rampant and algae at times spreading out of control. Last month, though, the countries on the shores of the northern European sea got together to sign a treaty to do something about it. Called the Baltic Sea Action Plan, the accord follows years of efforts at bringing Baltic Sea pollution under control -- including a similar effort launched in Russia to curtail untreated wastewater reaching the sea from the densely populated region around St. Petersburg.

The Aranda, though, has found that phosphorous levels have continued to go up. "It is very important to monitor if these efforts have had any effect," Dr. Markku Viitasalo, a leading scientist at the Finnish Institute of Marine Research, told SPIEGEL ONLINE. "And the answer is, not yet."

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http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,524139,00.html