Population trends and abundance of seals - Harbour seal 2018 (HOLAS 2)

This core indicator evaluates the status of the marine environment based on population trends and abundance of the three species of seals that occur in the Baltic Sea. This dataset is for Harbour seal. Good status is achieved for each species when the abundance of seals in each management unit is at least 10,000 individuals and the species-specific growth rate is achieved. Harbour seals in the southwestern Baltic and the Kattegat form a metapopulation, where subpopulations are genetically connected. The combined sizes of the subpopulations are here used to evaluate the Limit Reference level (LRL). The status evaluation is presented separately for the three seal species. The grey seal in the Baltic proper is evaluated as a single unit, whereas the Kattegat grey seals are evaluated separately. The status of ringed seals is evaluated for two management units. The status of harbour seals is evaluated for three management units. Harbour seal dataset displays the result of the indicator in HELCOM Assessment Scale 2 (Division of the Baltic Sea into 17 sub-basins). Attribute information: "HELCOM_ID" = HELCOM ID of the scale 2 assessment unit "level_2" = Name of the HELCOM scale 2 assessment unit "Assessment" = Name of assessment unity area considered "Area (km2)" = Area of the HELCOM scale 2 assessment unit "Status" = Status of the indicator (“Achieve”, “Fail” or “Not assessed”) "AULEVEL" = Assessment unit level used for the indicator "Indicator unit" = Unit of indicator (Abundance - Ringed seal / % decrease) "Threshold value" = Threshold value of the indicator "Notes" = Additional information "ConfA" = Confidence of classification "ConfT" = Temporal confidence of classification "ConfS" = Spatial confidence of classification "ConfM" = Methodological confidence of classification