Marine Biotechnology in Baltic Sea basin

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Baltic Sea general information.

Situation

The Baltic Sea is one of largest semi-enclosed bodies of brackish water in the world. Its shape, location and history have crucially influenced its present hydrological and biological features, in turn making it very sensitive to pollution and overuse. Geographically the Baltic Sea it is a longitudinally stretched sea, divided into sub-basins with specific conditions, a diverse coastline and plenty of islands. It is almost entirely land-locked (surrounded by nine countries) with very limited water exchange with the ocean via Kattegat and the Danish Straits and with great riverine input. As a result, the water residence time is typically 25–30 years. Also striking is the fact that, compared to many other coastal areas, the Baltic Sea is almost entirely lacking recurrent tides.

As highlighted by the SUBMARINER Project , there is no commonly accepted definition of the Baltic Sea Region (BSR). Its practical delimitation is based on functional relations, intensity of cooperation and interactions, as well as the nature of the problems requiring joint transnational action. Defining criteria may vary depending on the organisations and their purposes: they may be natural criteria such as catchment area (e.g. used by HELCOM), socioeconomic ones like the intensity of trade or migration, administrative or political ones such as membership in Baltic organisations (e.g. used by the Baltic Development Forum, the Council of the Baltic Sea States or the Baltic Sea Region Programme), spatial ones (e.g. used by VASAB) or cultural, historical and ethnic criteria like self-determination or common culture or values.

The Baltic is faced with serious marine environment problems related to the accumulation of industrial and urban waste carried by waterways or discharged directly into its waters. Its populated shores feature many growing industrial centres, particularly in Russia. These phenomena come on top of eutrophication of poorly renewed waters, overexploitation of key fish stocks and contamination of fish by dioxin and heavy metals. The Baltic Sea has 86 protected marine areas that add up to 29 000 km² or 6.5% of its total surface area (Kattegat included). Twenty-five other sites, in the planning stages, will bring this figure to 9.7%.

Overarching regional science strategies, plans and policies

At this stage there is no specific BSR Strategy for marine biotechnology but there are growing calls from the scientific and industry communities to develop one based on the huge potential from the available biological, human and infrastructure resources in the area (see also below for future prospects).

Despite different perspectives on its identity, the Baltic Sea Region is a well-established functional macro-region with a long tradition of multilateral collaborations at political and scientific level. This includes pioneering work by the Joint Baltic Sea Research and Development Programme (BONUS) in support of scientific research and the HELCOM, an intergovernmental organisation of the nine Baltic coastal countries and the EU aimed at protecting the Baltic marine environment from all sources of pollution. These and other positive regional experiences have evolved and found expression in the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (EUSBSR) , the first EU macro-regional strategy for one of the Sea Basins.

Research priorities

n/a

Infrastructures and coordination and support capacities / initiatives

ScanBalt® fmba (in short ScanBalt) is the organisation for the Baltic Sea or Nordic-Baltic Region's Health and Bio Economy community, named ScanBalt BioRegion. ScanBalt is a not-for-profit member association which serves as a service provider for the members and promotes the development of ScanBalt BioRegion as a globally competitive macro-region and innovation market. The aims of the regions and the regional networks constitute the basis for ScanBalt. ScanBalt acts according to a shared vision for ScanBalt BioRegion. ScanBalt has a return of investment by the members of more than 15 to 1 since 2001.

Major Initiatives

EU Baltic Sea Region Program Project SUBMARINER – Sustainable Uses of Baltic Marine Resources. The SUBMARINER Network has been accepted as a new flagship project under the Priority Area “Innovation” of the revised Action Plan of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (EUSBSR). It aims to be a transnational umbrella for future actions in the field of sustainable and innovative uses of Baltic marine resources. Based on the SUBMARINER Roadmap (to be published in early fall 2013), the Network will coordinate implementation of specific actions and ensure communication between projects and initiatives.

Major observations, trends and future prospects

In the Baltic Sea Region Blue Biotechnology has thus far not played a major role even though its marine organisms provide a great potential for exploration, with the added advantage of easier and thus more cost-efficient access and clearer legal conditions. The potential for development and wide implementation is particularly high in the Baltic, based on the existing expertise as well as the biotechnology equipment already present available in the region, which merely has to be put to use for the exploration from marine organisms. What is more: the Baltic Sea Region shows a great tradition in pursuing transnational cooperative strategies, which is a core requirement for turning Blue Biotechnology research into marketable applications.

A dedicated strategy for marine biotechnology research in the Baltic would allow for turning regional disparities into advantages, using laboratories in the new Eastern Baltic Sea countries while developing close links with the big pharmaceutical industry based more in the Western Baltic Sea region. Amplified coordination between potential contributing partners in the region would have substantial positive effects on scientific productivity, international success, foundation of new companies and growth of existing companies, financial support of investors, employment and most importantly contribute towards improved human health and environmental conditions of the Baltic Sea.

Hence, what is needed is a focused region-wide strategy for the implementation of Blue Biotechnology in the Baltic Sea area which is aligned with EU and international level developments. The strategy should be based on national action plans which take into account the respective strength of institutions and experts in the individual countries while also responding to most urgent market needs. Based on such a strategy a sequence of transnational priority actions could be initiated such as the establishment of a “Baltic Sea Region Blue Biotechnology Network”, a centre for bioprospecting of Baltic Sea microorganisms or a distribution network for cosmetics, health care and wellness products using a Baltic Sea Region label, the scaling up of marine genomics as a source of novel enzymes from the Baltic Sea or the advancement of innovative marine technologies stemming from the region. The ongoing success of the ScanBalt network for the last ten years has shown that the BSR is well placed not only to develop but also to implement such kind of strategy.

Disclaimer

This regional profile is based on available online information sources and contributions from various country experts and stakeholders. It does not aim nor claim to be complete or final, but should be considered as a dynamic and living information resource that will be elaborated, updated and improved as more information becomes available, including further inputs from experts and stakeholders. The information on this page is based on information initially compiled by the European Marine Board as part of the CSA MarineBiotech Project activities (2011-2013) and is largely based on the information received from Imke Schneemann (Norgenta, Germany) and documents of the SUBMARINER Project (Sustainable Uses of Baltic Marine Resources) available at http://www.submariner-project.eu. The SUBMARINER project (October 2010 to December 2013) is funded by the Baltic Sea Region Programme 2007-2013. It has a total budget of €3.6 million, of which €2.8 million are European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) co-finance and €0.8 million are partners’ contributions.