Polybrominated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PBDD) and dibenzofurans (PBDF) are a group of compounds of emerging interest as potential environmental stressors. Their structures as well as toxic responses are similar to the highly characterized toxicants polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins. High levels of PBDDs have been found in algae, shellfish, and fish, also from remote areas in theBaltic Sea. This thesis presents studies on PBDD behavior in fish and offspring, and natural formation of PBDDs from naturally abundant phenolic precursors. The uptake, elimination, and maternal transfer of mono- to tetraBDD/Fs were investigated in an exposure study reported in Paper I. The effects of PBDDs in fish were examined in a dose-response study (Paper II). It was shown that fish can assimilate PBDD/Fs from their feed, although non-laterally substituted congeners were rapidly eliminated. Laterally substituted congeners were retained as was congeners without vicinal hydrogens to some extent. PBDD/Fs were transferred to eggs, and congeners that were rapidly eliminated in fish showed a higher transfer ratio to eggs. Exposure to the laterally substituted 2,3,7,8-TeBDD had significant effects on the health, gene expression and several reproduction end-points of zebrafish, even at the lowest dose applied. The geographical and temporal variations of PBDD in biota samples from the Baltic Seasuggest biogenic rather than anthropogenic origin. In Paper III, bromoperoxidase-mediated coupling of 2,4,6-tribromophenol yielded several PBDD congeners, some formed after rearrangement. The overall yield was low, but significantly higher at low temperature, and the product profile obtained was similar to congener profiles found in biota from the Swedish West Coast. In Paper IV, photo­chemi­cally induced cyclization of hydroxylated polybrominated diphenyl ethers under natural conditions produced PBDDs at percentage yield. Rearranged products were not detected, and some abundant congeners do not seem to be formed this way. However, the product profile obtained was similar to congener profiles found in biota from the Baltic Proper. Since the PBDD congeners found in biota have a high turn-over in fish, the exposure must be high and continuous to yield the PBDD levels measured in wild fish. Thus, PBDDs must presumably be formed by common precursors in general processes, such as via enzymatic oxidations, UV-initiated reactions or a combination of both. The presented pathways for formation of PBDDs are both likely sensitive to changes in climatic conditions.

What explains continuity and change in post-Cold War maritime security strategies? What lessons can we learn from the employment of such comprehensive grand strategies in maritime regions where traditional and non-traditional threats converge? While many scholars have addressed particular maritime security issues, this author joins the few who engage themselves in the study of the conceptual development of maritime security. Through the lens of structural realism, this thesis examines the logic of the maritime security strategies employed in two distinguished regions by the US and EU member states Finland and Sweden. It concludes that while their maritime security concept remains broad, the recent increase in security pressure has renewed the priority assigned to the military sector of security. Navies are thus re-using the measures implemented by a broad set of civil agencies and the shipping industry to improve maritime security, to gain the level of maritime domain awareness required for establishing regional sea control and project power from the sea. / Vad förklarar kontinuitet och förändring i staters maritima säkerhetsstrategier efter det kalla krigets slut? Vilka lärdomar kan vi dra av deras implementering av allomfattande säkerhetsstrategier i maritima regioner där traditionella och icke-traditionella hot sammanfaller?  Medan många forskare valt att fokusera på specifika maritima säkerhetsproblem som piratverksamhet, terrorism eller smuggling av droger och människor, förenar denna avhandlings författare sig med det fåtal som engagerat sig i studiet av begreppet maritim säkerhets konceptuella utveckling. Genom en teoretisk lins av strukturell realism undersöker författaren av denna avhandling logiken bakom de maritima säkerhetsstrategier som implementerats av USA respektive EU-länderna Finland och Sverige i Ost- och Sydostasien samt i Östersjön.  I avhandlingen dras slutsatsen att medan dessa staters maritima säkerhetskoncept permanent breddats till att omfatta hot inom olika säkerhetssektorer, innebär de senaste årens ökade säkerhetstryck att hot inom den militära säkerhetssektorn åter prioriteras. De undersökta staternas marinstridskrafter drar därmed nytta av den mångfald av maritima säkerhetsåtgärder som implementerats av civila myndigheter och sjöfartsindustrin i syfte att förbättra maritim säkerhet för handelssjöfart, främja miljöskydd och möjliggöra exploatering av maritima naturresurser, till att upprätta militär kontroll över viktiga havsområden samt projicera militär makt från havet. / <p>Docent Steve Lindberg utgjorde min handledare vid Åbo Akademi till och med sin pensionering år 2016.</p><p>Professor Göran Djupsund utgjorde min handledare vid Åbo Akademi från och med 2016.</p><p>Professor Jerker Widén utgjorde min utsedde biträdande handledare vid Försvarshögskolan.</p>

As cyanobacteria can be found in a wide variety of environments and can cause great damage to ecosystems, human health, and economy, it is important to monitor and understand their behaviour. In this case, the study aims to understand the spatial variations of cyanobacteria communities in the Gulf of Bothnia, by analysing environmental factors that affect them. I hypothesize that the variations from north to south and coast to offshore of nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen promote the occurrence of different cyanobacteria orders, i.e. Chroococcales, Oscillatoriales, and Nostocales. The methods used were 16S amplicon DNA sequencing and the traditional microscopy method. Both showed similar results: Nostocales seem to predominate south-offshore zones and Oscillatoriales coast-north stations. Nevertheless, contrary to what was hypothesized on the beginning, Chroococcales were widely distributed between the stations. Both analysis methods used have limitations and strengths, thus, they should complement each other. Moreover, the DNA method must be implemented in cyanobacterial monitoring for the Baltic Sea. On the other hand, it can be said that environmental variables such as nutrients, jointly with other parameters, such as salinity, pH, humic substances and DOC (dissolved organic carbon), influence cyanobacteria communities’ composition. Overall, the environmental factors in the Baltic Sea give cyanobacteria the perfect conditions for living and develop. Therefore, it is important to implement water management and monitoring plans, as temperatures are predicted to rise globally with climate change, thus, cyanobacterial blooms are also predicted to be more common.

Diploma thesis "Nordic countries and their support of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania on their way to European structures" deals with foreign policies of Denmark, Sweden and Finland towards three Baltic countries in the 1990s. The paper is focused on Danish, Swedish and Finnish bilateral support of three Baltic countries on their way to European structures, particularly to the EU. The thesis strives to explain a rationale and motives which were behind decisions of Nordic countries to help Baltic countries in the 1990s. Although the thesis is primarily focused on a development in the 1990s, a short part is also devoted to a historical development of the relations between Nordic and Baltic countries. This historical excursion helps to identify changes of Nordic foreign policies (Baltic policies) which occurred in the 1990s. The main proposition of this thesis is a statement that though there were several motives behind decisions of Nordic states to help Baltic countries, the main factor which caused high involvement of Denmark, Sweden and Finland in the Baltic Sea area were security related factors. The thesis also offers a summary of some motives which were behind high involvement of Nordic countries in the region and provides some similarities and differences in Baltic policies of Denmark, Sweden and...

Diploma thesis "Nordic Cooperation. Its Transformation in the Second Half of the 20th Century and Its Current Shape" deals with the Nordic cooperation among Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden from the second half of the 20th century with the focus on the period from the 1990s till 2008. At the beginning, there is an introduction to the history of cooperation in Scandinavia till the 1990s and a description of two main institutions of the Nordic cooperation: the Nordic Council and the Nordic Council of Ministers. The main chapter analyses the Nordic cooperation from the 1990s, it focuses on areas and intensity of the cooperation and describes concrete programmes, projects, institutions, targets and results of the cooperation. The thesis also deals with the question of the impact of the three Baltic States involvement in the Nordic cooperation in the 1990s. The answer is that the internal Nordic cooperation has been developing very intensively - it was demonstrated by the analysis of the Nordic cooperation in the 1990s in the main chapter - without any affecting of the Baltic States involvement in the main. On the contrary, the Baltic States involvement has brouhgt the external opportunity for the Nordic countries to integrate into the cooperation in the Baltic Sea region.

The following study that is the regulatory settings for a port operator has been conducted with the intention to comprehend and highlight the different regulatory settings appropriate for the sea ports in order to ensure safe, reliable and efficient trade and transportations practices at sea ports. The area of focus of this research work was towards the Baltic Sea region ports where the researcher focused on the evaluating the regulatory settings for four different ports in order to compare and contrast each other with the intention to validate every port follows certain regulations. The researcher with the support of secondary quantitative study with the deductive research approach has intended to answer the problem of this research work. The findings of this study have suggested that different regulations on the basis of the international conventions are strongly considered by the range of ports especially Port of Gdansk, Port of Helsinki, Port of Tallinn and Rostock ports that have examined. Nevertheless, there were also some regulations which not all the ports were following thereby confirming all the ports follow certain regulations which are in accordance with their changing scenarios.

Dynestadsjön in Gamleby, Västervik municipality, has a history of collapses due to lack ofoxygen and high levels of salt, nitrogen and phosphorus. The high levels of nutrients havegiven rise to deteriorating living conditions for aquatic organisms. At the times when a collapsehas occurred, the upper water layer has become oxygen-free, which has led to a large part oflife in the water being lost. During the collapses, a powerful stench of sulfur was spread. Theaccumulated amounts of nutrients in the lake are assumed to have arisen due to the inflow ofbrackish water that occurs at regular intervals from Gamlebyviken. In recent years, numerousmeasures have been taken to reduce the nutrient load in the lake in order to improve its waterquality. A more innovative, and thus less proven measure, has been to pump water from thebottom layer of Dynestadsjön and use these volumes to irrigate crops. The volumes that arepumped contains significant amounts of the undesirable nutrients and thereby reduce thestress of the lake and its organisms. In order to perform this and other possible measures ona larger scale, it is necessary to be aware of the mass balance of salt and nutrients that existsin the lake. The aim of this study has been to map out the various flows that make up the massbalance and recreate it in the form of a simulation model in the programs MATLAB andSimulink. Also, an evaluation of the effects of the withdrawn volumes through pumping hasbeen performed and a discussion of what affects the inflow and outflow from Dynestadsjön'soutlet has been made.From the results it can be stated that the exchange of water that takes place at the lake's outletstrongly affects the mass balance of salt and nutrients in Dynestadsjön. It can also be statedthat the change in the amount of nutrients in the lake largely follows the same pattern as itsvolume. When inflow of brackish water from Gamlebyviken occurs, the amount of saltincreases and thus also the salinity. The runoff which contains a relatively low salinitycontributes to a diluting factor of salinity. This flow, on the other hand, supplies the lake withundesirable amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus as a result of a catchment area where theland use mainly consists of forestry and agriculture. The volumes extracted from the bottomlayer have contributed with a clearly reduced amount of nutrients relative to the startingamounts. The amounts that have been added to the layer through sedimentation and stratifyingis however unknown. High levels of salt are pumped out with the irrigation water. If theseamounts are enriched in the soil, it may cause problems in future harvests. The constant shiftsin the direction of flow at the outlet of Dynestadsjön are assumed to be due to so-called wateroscillation arising on the coast because of strong winds. The deep, long, narrow Gamlebyvikenwith its open inlet towards the sea is considered to have great potential for this phenomenonto occur. Variations in air pressure are also considered to affect the flow. For the time periodexamined, the variations of the air pressure have been evaluated. These variations correspondto large changes in the water level compared with the lake's location above sea level. / Dynestadsjön i Gamleby, Västerviks kommun, har en historia av kollapser till följd av syrebristsamt höga halter havssalt, kväve och fosfor. De höga halterna näringsämnen har gett upphovtill försämrade levnadsförhållanden för fisk och andra vattenlevande organismer. Då sjönkollapsar stiger syrefritt bottenvatten upp till ytskiktet och orsakar fiskdöd. Vid kollapserna haräven en kraftfull stank av svavel spridit sig intill sjön. De ackumulerade mängderna salter i sjönantas uppkommit på grund av inflöde av bräckt vatten från Gamlebyviken till Dynestadsjön.Flertalet åtgärder har utförts för att minska näringsbelastningen från land till sjön för attförbättra vattenkvaliteten. Dessa åtgärder har främst varit anläggning av fosfordammar,tvåstegsdiken samt våtmarker. En mer nytänkande, och därmed mindre beprövad åtgärd äratt pumpa vatten från sjöns bottenskikt för att sedan använda detta näringsrika vatten tillbevattning av grödor. Tanken är att volymerna som pumpas upp ska återföra näringsämnentill land och skapa en återcirkulation av det näringsrika vattnet. För att kunna utföra detta samtandra eventuella åtgärder i större skala krävs det förståelse om den massbalans avnäringsämnen som råder i sjön. Syftet med arbetet har varit att utföra mätningar för attkartlägga de olika flödena som utgör massbalansen och återskapa denna i form av en modelli programmen MATLAB och Simulink. En utvärdering kring effekten av de uttagna volymernagenom pumpning har utförts samt en diskussion kring vad som påverkar in- och utflödet urDynestadsjöns utlopp har genomförts.Resultatet visar att det utbyte av vatten som sker vid sjöns utlopp kraftigt påverkarmassbalansen av salt, kväve och fosfor i Dynestadsjön. Vid inflöden av bräckt vatten frånGamlebyviken till Dynestadsjön ökar mängden salt. Tillrinningen från land och andravattendrag har en relativt låg salthalt och bidrar med en utspädande faktor. Flödet förserdäremot sjön med oönskade mängder kväve och fosfor som ett resultat av ettavrinningsområde där markanvändningen till största del består av skogs- och jordbruk.Simuleringarna visar att de uttagna volymerna från bottenskiktet har bidragit till att minskamängden näringsämnen med 25 % relativt de ursprungliga mängderna. Hur stora mängdersom tillkommit skiktet genom sedimentation och skiktning är dock oklart. Höga halter av salthar pumpats upp med bevattningsvattnet. Om mängderna anrikas i marken kan det påverkamarkbördigheten och orsaka problem vid framtida skördar. De ständiga skiftningarna avflödets riktning vid Dynestadsjöns utlopp antas delvis bero av vattenpendling uppkommen vidkusten som ett resultat av kraftiga vindar. Den djupa, långsmala Gamlebyviken anses ha godpotential för att detta fenomen ska kunna inträffa. Även variationer i lufttrycket anses påverkaflödet. För den undersökta tidsperioden har variationerna av lufttrycket utvärderats. Dessavariationer motsvarar förändringar av vattenståndet av samma storleksordning som sjönsbelägna nivå över havet.

Eutrophication is one of the most serious environmental problems in the Baltic Sea due to factors such as nutrient discharges from different sources and long residence time. Eutrophication gives rise to increased primary production, often followed by oxygen depletion and disruption of important ecosystems. An action plan has been created by the Helsinki Commission (HELCOM) in order to achieve good ecological status of the Baltic Sea in the year of 2021. According to the action plan, 21 000 tonnes of nitrogen and 290 tonnes of phosphorus shall be decreased of the annual discharge from Sweden. The aim of methods within ecological engineering is to solve environmental problems, and the applications ranging from the harvesting of existing ecosystems to the construction of new ecosystems. This study evaluates if harvest of algae, reed, and mussels can help meeting the goals of the action plan considerably, in accordance with areas and biomass amounts that need to be harvested, and to assess the efficiency of the three biomasses with regards to nutrient reduction. The potential of harvested biomasses as substrates in biogas production and as fertilizers is investigated, and how much fossil CO2 that can be saved from being released to the atmosphere if net energy benefits, calculated from energy budgets in the biogas process, replaces fossil fuels. Life cycle inventories which extend from the harvest (i.e. from the Baltic coast of Sweden) to the production of biogas have been made in order to investigate the biogas potential of algal, reed, and mussel biomass. Suitability of the three biomasses as fertilizers has been assessed through comparison between nutrient sufficiency of crops and nutrient contents of the three biomasses (i.e. based on quotients of nitrogen). The quantity of biomass in the areas that can be harvested can help meeting the goals of the action plan drawn up by HELCOM, and mussels show to be most efficient with regards to nutrient reduction efficiency. Reed has the highest net energy benefit followed by algae, and both biomasses show potential of further investigation as substrates in the biogas production process. Mussels have low net energy benefit and thus are not a suitable substrate in biogas production. The three biomasses are suitable as fertilizers with respect to contents of nitrogen but the content of phosphorus occurs under the sufficiency levels for the crops (i.e. peas, grain, and sugar beets). For algae and reed, the potassium contents occur above the sufficiency level for peas and grain but under the level for sugar beets, mussels contain lower levels of potassium than the need of the investigated crops. / Eutrofiering är ett av de största miljöhoten i Östersjön och orsakas av faktorer som utsläpp av näringsämnen från olika källor samt lång uppehållstid. Eutrofiering ger upphov till ökad primärproduktion där syrebrist och störning av viktiga ekosystem är vanliga påföljder. En aktionsplan har utformats av HELCOM som fastställer att Sverige ska reducera 21 000 ton kväve och 290 ton fosfor av de årliga utsläppen till Östersjön, med syftet att uppnå god ekologisk status år 2021. Metoder inom ecological engineering innefattar sund skörd av existerande ekosystem med syftet att lösa miljöproblem. I den här studien undersöks om skörd av alger, vass och musslor kan hjälpa till att möta miljömålen med påtaglig effekt, samt mängder och ytor som måste skördas av de tre biomassorna. Effektiviteten med avseende på näringsreducering hos de tre biomassorna jämförs. Potentialen för användning av de skördade biomassorna som substrat i biogasproduktion samt som gödningsmedel undersöks, samt hur mycket CO2 som kan besparas att släppas ut till atmosfären om nettoenergi från energibudgetar i biogasprocessen ersätter fossila bränslen. Energibudgetar som sträcker sig från skörd till biogasproduktion har utformats samt näringsinnehåll av de tre biomassorna jämfördes med näringsbehov hos vissa grödor för att ta reda på biomassornas eventuella potential som gödningsmedel. Beträffande biomassor och areor som finns att skörda visade det sig att metoderna kan möta miljömålen utformade av HELCOM. Musslor visade sig vara den mest effektiva biomassan att skörda med avseende på näringsämnesreducering. Vass erhöll högst nettoenergiutbyte (i.e. baserat på energibudgetarna) följt av alger, därmed finns potential för vidare undersökning av de båda biomassorna som substrat i biogasprocesser. Nettoenergiutbytet i biogasprocessen hos musslor var lågt vilket visar att musslorna inte är lämpligt som substrat. De tre biomassorna uppvisar lämplighet som gödningsmedel med avseende på kväveinnehåll men innehållet av fosfor ligger under näringsbehovet hos de grödor som undersöktes. Alger och vass uppfyller kaliumbehovet hos ärter och spannmål, men inte hos sockerbetor. Musslornas kaliuminnehåll är lägre än näringsbehovet hos samtliga grödor.

The aim of this literature study was to investigate the effects of biofouling in the Baltic Sea. This was done to increase environmental awareness and understanding of the importance of a sustainable marine environment. A systematic search in selected databases resulted in the study being based on tio research articles. The overall results of the study show that biofouling demonstrate negative effects, but the effects are not fully understood to date and the focus is still on economic aspects. Furthermore, it was observed that the studied organizations are currently focused on greenhouse gas issues, but they have also been paying attention to biofouling problems in recent time. The literature study provides important insights into the effects of biofouling.

It is no secret that policy, to a large degree, informs what policy objectives should and can be pursued given a sector or policy domain. However, what happens when multiple levels of policy exist and regulate the same geographical area? The present study explores how complex multi-leveled policy areas affect Environmental Policy Implementation (EPI) and what happens when policy objectives from one level stand against policy objectives on another. By looking at national, supranational, and international policy governing the Swedish Exclusive Economic Zone (SEEZ) and comparing these to the Swedish government decisions on the Nord Stream I and II pipelines (2009 and 2018); the present study has explored to what extent policy objectives and underlying frames from the different policy levels have affected the decisions. The study has worked through the theoretical lenses of Environmental Policy Integration and Frame theory; and has applied thematic analysis and frame analysis methods. The study has concluded that, while policy objectives reflecting strong EPI exist in national policy, the weak EPI of the supranational and international policies policy objectives makes it implausible for effective EPI to be the outcome of decisions in the SEEZ. Without a strong value hierarchy prioritizing environmental objectives, it is unlikely that the Baltic Sea, or other similar multi-leveled policy areas, can achieve sustainable development.