The aim of the monitoring programme is to collect data on human activities that directly or indirectly impact the marine environment. The monitored human activities are those listed in the MSFD Annex III Table 2b (2017/845/EC) and relevant for point (c) of Article 8(1), and Articles 10 and 13. The following activities are covered: Coastal defence and flood protection; Offshore structures (other than for oil/gas/renewables); Restructuring of seabed morphology, including dredging and depositing of materials; Extraction of minerals; Extraction of oil and gas, including infrastructure; Extraction of water; Renewable energy generation (wind, wave and tidal power), including infrastructure; Transmission of electricity and communications (cables); Fish harvesting (professional, recreational); Fish and shellfish processing; Marine plant harvesting; Hunting and collecting for other purposes; Aquaculture — marine, including infrastructure; Transport infrastructure; Transport — shipping; Waste treatment and disposal; Tourism and leisure infrastructure; Tourism and leisure activities; Military operations and Research, survey and educational activities. Data are gathered at least once during a six-year assessment period, but in some cases also annually. The system of such data collection activities is still under development. The programme corresponds to the following monitoring programmes in the indicative list: Activities extracting living resources (fisheries including recreational, marine plant harvesting, hunting and collecting); Activities extracting non-living resources (sand, gravel, dredging); Activities producing food (aquaculture); Activities with permanent infrastructures (e.g. renewable energy, oil & gas, ports) or structural changes (e.g. coastal defences); Sea-based mobile activities (shipping, boating); Coastal human activities (e.g. tourism, recreational sports, ecotourism). The programme is the further development of the programme presented in 2014. The code of the programme also changed.

The aim of the programme is to monitor the abundance of grey and ringed seals at the haulouts on land or ice, in order to produce estimates of abundance and abundance trends as well as the distributions and distribution trends of these species during their moulting and pupping seasons. It provides data for the status assessments under GES criteria D1C2 (population abundance) and D1C4 (distributional range and pattern). Monitoring is conducted yearly at the designated sites. The program is regionally coordinated by HELCOM and the HELCOM monitoring guidelines are followed. Data are yearly reported to the national environmental monitoring database KESE (by 1 November), but for ringed seals, data are publicly available only in a generalised form due to protection requirements. The programme corresponds to the following monitoring programmes in the indicative list: Mobile species – distribution, abundance and/or biomass; Mobile species – population characteristics.

The aim of the programme is to monitor the breeding success of grey seals. Visual counting of pups (including dead specimen) is conducted on their breeding sites on land (islands) several times during the breeding period from 15 February to 31 March every year. The number of pups and their death rate is estimated. Monitoring provides data for the status assessments under the GES criterion D1C2 (population abundance) and D1C4 (distributional range and pattern). The program data collection is regionally coordinated by HELCOM. Data are yearly reported to the national environmental monitoring database KESE (by 1 November). The programme corresponds to the following monitoring programmes in the indicative list: Mobile species – distribution, abundance and/or biomass; Mobile species – health status; Mobile species – population characteristics.

The aim of the programme is to monitor characteristics of the ice cover. Data are collected by visual observations and remote sensing. Both, coastal water bodies and off-shore sub-basins of the Baltic Sea (HELCOM sub-divisions) are monitored. Monitoring is conducted continuously during winter. The program is regionally coordinated (joint data collection) via Baltic Sea Ice Services and a common product is produced. The data are delivered daily. The programme corresponds to the following monitoring programmes in the indicative list: Ice cover.