Innovative approaches to the sustainable use of marine resources have recently received more and more attention as part of new European Commission initiatives.
As one of the operational proposals under the Innovation Union and Resource Efficient Europe flagships of the EU 2020 strategy, the strategy for a sustainable bioeconomy in Europe was adopted by the European Commission in February 2012. It aims towards the development of a more innovative and low-emissions economy, which uses biological resources from the land and sea as inputs to food and feed, industrial and energy production as well as bio-based industrial and environmental protection processes. The strategy is coupled with the Commission’s Integrated Maritime Policy. More specifically with the “Blue Growth” initiative, which aims to harness the untapped potential of Europe’s oceans, seas and coasts for job and growth whilst safeguarding the services healthy and resilient marine and coastal ecosystems provide. It is therefore linked with the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive to reach good environmental status by 2021.
Meanwhile, the Baltic Sea Region (BSR) is characterised by a long-standing tradition of transnational cooperation especially in relation to maritime affairs. These have reached yet another level with the adoption of the European Union Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region in 2009. This first ever macroregional strategy tries to provide an integrated strategic framework for the large variety of actors, policies and funding mechanisms within the region and link them to European policies.
The SUBMARINER Compendium has been designed to provide, for the first time, a comprehensive picture of the contribution the Baltic Sea Region could possibly make within these European wide initiatives. The current state of knowledge has been gathered and set against the backdrop of environmental, institutional and regulatory conditions for the following topics:
- Macroalgae Harvesting & Cultivation
- Mussel Cultivation
- Reed Harvesting
- Large-Scale Microalgae Cultivation
- Blue Biotechnology
- Wave Energy
- Sustainable Fish Aquaculture
- Combinations with Offshore Wind Parks
This provided a framework to carry out SWOT analyses for each of the given applications and lead to recommendations on how to best address the obstacles and limitations inhibiting widespread adoption. While each application exhibits different kinds of needs, a number of cross-cutting issues have been identified, and are expanded on in the “Overall Conclusions” chapter.
The Compendium has been brought together by experts from a wide range of disciplines and institutions across all BSR countries, which have joined forces within the three year long SUBMARINER project (2010–2013), part-financed by the European Regional Development Fund.
The Compendium shall serve as the background for the SUBMARINER Roadmap to be published in. summer 2013, indicating the concrete steps to be taken in the coming years within the Baltic Sea Region so as to promote beneficial uses and mitigate against negative impacts. The Roadmap will be developed in a participatory approach and based on input from stakeholders across the Baltic Sea Region and beyond.
