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The handbook outlines a 'Smart and Sustainable Island Development Model' based on experiences from Aegna and Vasikkasaari. It details a three-stage strategic planning process: setting a shared vision, conducting a sustainability assessment across environmental, economic, social, and cultural dimensions, and establishing goals and action plans. The guide emphasizes the use of 'smart solutions'—including IoT sensors for weather and air quality, Bluetooth and infrared visitor tracking, satellite imagery for vegetation decay, and drone-based bird nest counting—to reduce the need for physical maintenance visits and improve data collection. It also advocates for citizen science, such as using the iNaturalist app for biodiversity monitoring and student-led marine litter research, to engage the public and gather extensive datasets. Practical examples include the implementation of a centralized waste management station on Aegna and the development of nature trails and resting areas on Vasikkasaari.

The document outlines a strategic framework for transforming small islands near urban centers into sustainable tourism destinations. It emphasizes a four-dimensional sustainability model (environmental, economic, social, and cultural) and details the use of 'smart solutions'—such as IoT sensors, satellite imagery, and citizen science—to monitor ecosystems and manage visitor flows. The guide is based on experiences from Aegna and Vasikkasaari islands, providing a step-by-step process for visioning, sustainability assessment, and the implementation of infrastructure and waste management systems.

The paper maps global research on ecotechnologies for recovering carbon and nutrients from municipal and domestic wastewater, highlighting the need for policies and funding to address eutrophication and planetary boundary breaches.

The report finds that the EU missed its 2020 deadline to end overfishing, with nearly half of the analyzed TACs for 2020 still exceeding scientific advice. It highlights a systemic failure to follow precautionary advice for data-limited stocks and a tendency to prioritize target stocks over bycatch stocks. The analysis identifies specific Member States—including France, Ireland, and Spain—as frequently pushing for unsustainable catch limits based on unsubstantiated socio-economic claims. The document also criticizes the lack of transparency in the TAC-setting process and the potential for misleading reporting by the European Commission.

Ghost gear is identified as the most lethal form of marine plastic debris, contributing between 500,000 and 1 million tonnes of plastic to the oceans annually. It causes indiscriminate 'ghost fishing' that threatens endangered species, damages critical habitats, and creates economic losses for fisheries and other maritime sectors. While various international frameworks like UNCLOS and MARPOL exist, the report describes them as fragmented and ineffective. WWF advocates for a combination of preventive measures (gear marking, circular design), mitigation (biodegradable materials), and curative actions (retrieval programs), culminating in the call for a new UN treaty on marine plastic pollution.

The document argues that the EU missed its 2020 deadline to end overfishing of all stocks and identifies four critical gaps in the implementation of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). It highlights that 38% of analysed stocks in the Northeast Atlantic remain overfished and criticizes the Commission for omitting data-limited stocks from reporting and failing to strictly adhere to scientific advice when setting total allowable catches (TACs). The authors emphasize that ending overfishing is essential for the European Green Deal and the EU Biodiversity Strategy, and they call for the adoption of remote electronic monitoring (REM) to ensure compliance with the landing obligation.

The document critiques the European Commission's (DG MARE) use of a 99% sustainability figure for fish landings, arguing it masks ongoing overfishing by excluding shared stocks and those without specific scientific advice. It contends that focusing on landing volumes rather than the number of individual stocks ignores depleted species and fails to meet the legal requirements of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). The author recommends shifting reporting to stock numbers and including all harvested stocks to ensure transparency and ecosystem-based management.

The report analyzes the link between synthetic nitrogen fertilizer use in the Midwest and the formation of a hypoxic 'dead zone' in the Gulf of Mexico. It estimates that agricultural nitrogen losses have caused between $552 million and $2.4 billion in annual damages to Gulf fisheries and marine habitat ecosystem services since 1980. The authors argue that shifting to sustainable agricultural practices—such as cover cropping and conservation tillage—can reduce these losses, providing a significant return on investment by restoring marine productivity and improving soil resilience for farmers.

The document examines the use of gypsum, an industrial by-product from phosphorus fertilizer extraction, to mitigate nutrient pollution in the Baltic Sea. Pilot projects in Finland, including Project SAVE and research in the River Vantaanjoki basin, indicate that gypsum improves soil structure and reduces phosphorus losses to waterways by approximately 50%. While the practice is recommended for coastal drainage areas, researchers caution against its use in lake drainage basins or groundwater recharge areas due to the risk of sulfate loading and subsequent eutrophication. Large-scale application across Finland, Sweden, Denmark, and Poland could potentially achieve 10% of the phosphorus reductions targeted by the HELCOM Baltic Sea Action Plan.

The document highlights the critical threat of bycatch to cetaceans in EU waters, specifically targeting the Baltic harbour porpoise and the Northeast Atlantic common dolphin. It asserts that numerous Member States have failed to implement the monitoring and protection mandates of the Habitats Directive 92/43/EEC and Regulation 812/2004. To address this, the authors propose emergency spatial and temporal closures of fisheries, mandatory on-board observations, and the use of acoustic deterrent devices (ADDs). Furthermore, the briefing warns that the EU must align its bycatch prevention procedures with the US Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) by January 1, 2022, to avoid import prohibitions on fish products.

The report concludes that Denmark has failed to implement the necessary control measures required by EU law to ensure all fish catches are landed and reported. Evidence from last-haul inspections shows significant discrepancies between actual catches of undersized fish and those reported in logbooks, particularly in the Baltic and North Seas. The document highlights that traditional surveillance is ineffective and advocates for Remote Electronic Monitoring (REM) as the only viable tool to deter illegal discarding and 'high-grading'. It also criticizes the European Commission for passivity in enforcing the landing obligation across member states, which undermines the 'level-playing-field' for fishers.

The report finds that Denmark has failed to establish necessary control measures to ensure compliance with the EU landing obligation, noting that the Danish Fisheries Agency detected only three infringements per year in 2017 and 2018. Evidence from last-haul inspections indicates widespread illegal discarding of fish below the Minimum Conservation Reference Size (MCRS), with cod under MCRS making up 13% in the Baltic and 6% in the North Sea, compared to less than 1% reported in logbooks. The document also highlights 'high-grading' (discarding legal but smaller fish) as a persistent issue, supported by trials from 2008-2015. It concludes that traditional surveillance is ineffective and identifies closed-circuit television (CCTV) and Remote Electronic Monitoring (REM) as the only effective tools for enforcement. Furthermore, it criticizes the European Commission for failing to police Member State compliance and for setting Total Allowable Catches (TAC) based on the flawed assumption that no unaccounted discards occur.

The document argues that the European Commission has made insufficient progress in implementing the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), noting that 41 percent of analysed stocks remain overfished. The NGOs call for 2020 TAC proposals to strictly follow scientific advice, improve the implementation of the Landing Obligation (LO) through better monitoring like CCTV, and increase transparency in the TAC setting process.

A group of NGOs urges MEPs to reject the political agreement on the Western Waters Multi-Annual Plan, claiming it fails to ensure sustainable management for all stocks, allows fishing mortality above sustainable levels, and lacks necessary ecosystem-based management measures.

The protocol outlines a systematic search of academic and grey literature from 2013 to 2017 to identify ecotechnologies that recover or reuse carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus in agriculture. The goal is to address the eutrophication of the Baltic Sea caused by agricultural nutrient runoff by creating a searchable database and an interactive evidence atlas to identify knowledge gaps and clusters.

A joint position paper by NGOs urging EU legislators to reform the post-2020 European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF). The authors argue that the fund should shift from financing direct economic activity and capacity-increasing subsidies toward a results-based approach that prioritizes marine biodiversity, strict fisheries control, and a sustainable blue economy.

The report reviews research needs for SDG 14, categorizing them into three themes: marine pollution, ocean and climate, and sustainable use of marine resources. It highlights critical knowledge gaps in the Arctic and Baltic Sea, the need for standardized global monitoring of microplastics and acidification, and the challenge of balancing short-term economic demands with long-term environmental protection. The document emphasizes that while science can characterize challenges and provide solutions, effective mitigation depends on political will and multi-disciplinary collaboration.

ClientEarth evaluates the European Commission's communication on 2019 fishing opportunities, welcoming the move toward FMSY targets and the use of ICES landings advice for the Baltic and North Sea. However, the organization expresses significant concerns regarding the use of FMSY ranges in multiannual plans, the lack of transparency in reporting, and the potential for lowering ambitions for stocks categorized as 'bycatch'. It specifically warns against the removal of Total Allowable Catches (TACs) and the use of socio-economic arguments to delay the 2020 MSY deadline.

A coalition of NGOs supports the European Commission's proposal to use scientific 'selectivity performance indicators' to reduce juvenile fish catches but argues that these targets must be made mandatory, expanded to all commercial species, and tied to ambitious timelines. The NGOs also advocate for minimum conservation reference sizes (MCRS) to be based on the size at first maturity to ensure effective stock protection.

The document identifies significant gaps in how the European Commission and other stakeholders report on fish stocks and TACs, noting that current methods often fail to track management progress toward MSY and rely on incomplete data. It recommends that the Commission's Article 50 report include direct comparisons between TACs and scientific advice, cover all harvested species regardless of data availability, and explicitly report on biomass levels alongside fishing mortality. The briefing also highlights the need for standardized labeling and clearer methodology across various reports to avoid ambiguous or misleading conclusions about whether stocks are 'fished sustainably'.