85
developing a regional IAS approach focused on the entire Baltic Sea region.
Moreover, governing the Baltic Sea region depends not only on decisions made by
national governments of EU Member States but also on EU-Russia agreements and
Russia’s bilateral relations with individual EU Member States (Kern 2011 ).
Furthermore, Russia is expected to increase marine transportation from and to St.
Petersburg, and the lack of binding agreements obliging Russia to act in accordance
with the available recommendations can hamper valuable IAS-related initiatives on
a Baltic Sea regional scale.
Apart from the BWM Convention , there are a number of voluntary IAS initiatives on various levels. At the international level, there are the pan-European
International Council for the Exploration of the Sea , Code of Practice on the
Introductions and Transfers of Marine Organisms and the Council of Europe (Bern
Convention). There are also country-based individual voluntary engagements that
have pathway codes not covered by existing regulatory frameworks for the Baltic
Sea area. Although all the mentioned documents and actions constitute valuable and
useful rules, compliance is voluntary and does not impose executive measures. At
the same time, although shipping was seen as the main vector of IAS several decades
ago, public awareness has been raised only recently. Public debates and campaigns
have been aimed at eliciting pro-environmental behaviour and encourage voluntary
actions among different stakeholders. Voluntary measures can play multiple roles:
raise awareness, create social pressure, develop technological innovations, leverage/disseminate best practices, accelerate regime changes or fi ll regulatory gaps
(Harrison 2001 ). Bussière and Fratzsher ( 2008 ) say that ‘for a given degree of risk
aversion, there is a unique combination of the forecast horizon and of the probability threshold that maximises the policy maker’s preferences, yielding the best possible model from a policy perspective’. The outcome of a political process could
therefore be a ‘continuous improvement process’ policy, which aims at compromising the interests of different stakeholder groups, whereas sustainability goals in
terms of meeting economic viability and preserving ecosystem goods and services
are often not achieved. Nevertheless, due to constant changes in policy objectives,
actual measures taken are a patchwork of attempts to cope with change and
complexity .
4.5 Framing and Implementation of the Ecosystem
Approach to Management (EAM)
As a consequence of the increasing use of marine resources, concerns about the
health of the seas surrounded by large human populations are growing. Thus, farreaching initiatives to control human activities are being developed. For sustainable
management of the marine environment through various management strategies, for
example, a maritime security strategy, policy development must address socioeconomic and environmental aspects. However, there is a trade-off between short-term
4 Biological Invasions: A Case Study of Baltic Sea Environmental Governance
developing a regional IAS approach focused on the entire Baltic Sea region.
Moreover, governing the Baltic Sea region depends not only on decisions made by
national governments of EU Member States but also on EU-Russia agreements and
Russia’s bilateral relations with individual EU Member States (Kern 2011 ).
Furthermore, Russia is expected to increase marine transportation from and to St.
Petersburg, and the lack of binding agreements obliging Russia to act in accordance
with the available recommendations can hamper valuable IAS-related initiatives on
a Baltic Sea regional scale.
Apart from the BWM Convention , there are a number of voluntary IAS initiatives on various levels. At the international level, there are the pan-European
International Council for the Exploration of the Sea , Code of Practice on the
Introductions and Transfers of Marine Organisms and the Council of Europe (Bern
Convention). There are also country-based individual voluntary engagements that
have pathway codes not covered by existing regulatory frameworks for the Baltic
Sea area. Although all the mentioned documents and actions constitute valuable and
useful rules, compliance is voluntary and does not impose executive measures. At
the same time, although shipping was seen as the main vector of IAS several decades
ago, public awareness has been raised only recently. Public debates and campaigns
have been aimed at eliciting pro-environmental behaviour and encourage voluntary
actions among different stakeholders. Voluntary measures can play multiple roles:
raise awareness, create social pressure, develop technological innovations, leverage/disseminate best practices, accelerate regime changes or fi ll regulatory gaps
(Harrison 2001 ). Bussière and Fratzsher ( 2008 ) say that ‘for a given degree of risk
aversion, there is a unique combination of the forecast horizon and of the probability threshold that maximises the policy maker’s preferences, yielding the best possible model from a policy perspective’. The outcome of a political process could
therefore be a ‘continuous improvement process’ policy, which aims at compromising the interests of different stakeholder groups, whereas sustainability goals in
terms of meeting economic viability and preserving ecosystem goods and services
are often not achieved. Nevertheless, due to constant changes in policy objectives,
actual measures taken are a patchwork of attempts to cope with change and
complexity .
4.5 Framing and Implementation of the Ecosystem
Approach to Management (EAM)
As a consequence of the increasing use of marine resources, concerns about the
health of the seas surrounded by large human populations are growing. Thus, farreaching initiatives to control human activities are being developed. For sustainable
management of the marine environment through various management strategies, for
example, a maritime security strategy, policy development must address socioeconomic and environmental aspects. However, there is a trade-off between short-term
4 Biological Invasions: A Case Study of Baltic Sea Environmental Governance