In Sweden, hunting for seals and certain species of seabirds is regulated by the Hunting Act, the Hunting Ordinance and various supplementary regulations as well as other legally binding documents. The hunt can be carried out either as predator control, license hunting or general hunting. The different types of hunting have partly different purposes and conditions linked to the conduct of the hunt. The main purpose of the predator control is to limit the damage that wildlife causes to human activities and interests and in some cases the damage that a species causes to other animals and plants. In license hunting, the kills and thus the development of the game stock in question must be adapted to the availability of game and with regard to public and private interests. The hunt must also have a clear purpose, e.g. to prevent the damage caused by wildlife. In the case of general hunting, the hunting right holder has the opportunity to hunt an unlimited number of animals of the permitted type during the permitted hunting period, however, the hunting must be adapted to the availability of game. Predator control and license hunting is conducted following a decision by an authority. General hunting seasons are regulated in the Hunting Ordinance. The Hunting Ordinance also contains provisions that certain species may be hunted on the hunters own initiative to prevent the damage caused by wildlife. Historically, intensive hunting has been a contributing factor to some species being endangered, but today hunting is regulated so that it does not cause a negative impact on the viability of stocks. Hunting, however, is one of several human activities that must be monitored in order to be able to follow the development of different populations of birds and seals.

In the regular sampling carried out on board commercial fishing vessels in accordance with EU data collection regulations ((EU) 2017/1004, (EU) 2016/1251), as well as the regulation on the conservation of fishery resources and the protection of marine ecosystems (EU ) 2019/1241, information regarding by-catch is obtained. All fish species, commercial shellfish, mammals and birds are noted. Sampling takes place mainly on vessels fishing with various bottom trawls. Data collection carried out according to the EU data collection regulations is coordinated internationally between Member States in regional data collection coordination groups. Sweden participates in two such groups RCG Baltic and RCG North Sea and Eastern Arctic (to which the Skagerrak and Kattegat belong). Furthermore, a lot of international coordination and development work is done within ICES´s various expert groups (for by-catches mainly WGBYC). Sweden participates actively in these groups. Pilot studies were carried out in 2017-2019 with the aim of conducting by-catch sampling in 2020 in fisheries that use passive gear (nets and hooks). The purpose is to increase knowledge about by-catches in these fisheries, to test whether it is possible to estimate by-catches by having observers on board fishing boats, and if this is an effective method. Sampling of nets in the Sound and in the Kattegat will be included in the regular sampling from 2020. However, no ongoing monitoring of passive gear is currently planned in the Baltic Proper as previous pilots observed fewer by-catches there. So based on risk, monitoring in the Sound and Kattegatt are therefore prioritized. The Skagerrak could possibly be added after the pilot study there is completed in 2021. The pilot studies have shown that it also works to monitor the fish with passive gear with the help of observers (the challenge is that the vessels are small). However, the question remains whether this is the most effective way of estimating the total amount of by-catches in the fisheries. The problem is that observers can only cover a small part of the total fishing effort and that by-catches of many species (such as harbour porpoises and various birds) are relatively uncommon. This means that there will be few observations and thus uncertainty in the estimates of the total amount of by-catches. In 2020, therefore, a new pilot project was initiated where surveillance with the help of cameras is tested and compared with surveillance with the help

There are three populations of Harbour porpoise in Swedish waters: the North Sea, the Belt Sea (western Baltic Sea) and the Baltic Sea population, that are monitored using different methods. The aim of the monitoring is to follow up population trends in abundance and distribution in international and Swedish waters as these can be affected by e.g. hazardous substances, bycatch, ship traffic and food availability. The large scale airial monitoring is coordinated within OSPAR or trilateral (SE, DK, DE) surveys of the North Sea and the Belt Sea poulations. Static acoustic monitoring of the Baltic Sea and the Belt Sea poulations are performed offshore and in N2000 areas is partially coordinated with neighbouring states. The monitoring of abundance and distribution is performed in combination with studies of disease and health through surveys of stranded and bycatched individuals. Harbour porpoise monitoring in the Baltic Sea started 2016. SE has been part of several internationally coordinated surveys in the North Sea (SCANS 1994, SCANS II 2005, SCANS III 2016) and Baltic Sea (SAMBAH 2011-2013)

In Sweden, there are three species of seals - grey seal (Halichoerus grypus), harbour seal (Phoca vitulina) and ringed seal (Pusa hispida). Each species have a custumized national monitoring programme for estimating the poulation abundance. The aim of monitoring the abundance and distribution of seals is to detect long-term effects of human activities affecting seals as a result of hunting, bycatch, hazardous substances and changes in the food web. Grey seal monitoring started in 1989 Harbour seal monitoring started in 1988 Ringed seal monitoring started in 1995

Marine mammals are top predators in the food chain, which increases the probability of detecting changes in ecosystems and high levels of hazardous substances. Substances found in low levels in fish can be enriched and detected in high levels in seals and porpoises, which makes them suitable as indicator organisms for early detection of changes in the environment. The primary aim of the monitoring is to study the long-term effects of hazardous substances and other human activities affecting the marine environment by documenting population development for grey seals, harbor seals, ringed seals and harbor porpoises in combination with studies of cause of death, health, diseases and chemical analyzes. Marine mammals (bycatch, hunted or found dead for unknown reasons) are collected and investigated each year. Monitoring of Baltic seal healths started in 1975 and was expanded with ongoing health and disease monitoring of marine mammals in 2020. During 2020-2021, the monitoring of the effects of hazardous substances will be evaluated in order to be able to optimize the monitoring programmes both in terms of coverage and costs and to provide a better basis for state assessment and determining the causes of the effects. Comment: D8C2 was not in the list for the feature Adverse effects on species and habitats, but this criteria is relevant for this programme.