Operational early warning system on non-indigenous species

An early warning system (EWS) will serve for timely communication of findings of harmful aquatic organisms and pathogens (HAOP) to all relevant authorities in the HELCOM countries and international shipping in the Baltic Sea. The EWS should be regionally harmonized and agreed to avoid misinterpretation in signaling and forecasting of the HAOP spread, which may adversely affect human health, economy or environment. The EWS should be designed to ensure that there is sufficient time for the response measures and the roles of all actors are clearly defined.

In the COMPLETE project, the EWS will be elaborated as a generic scheme showing connections (information flow) between different types of actors. The international, regional and national directions of information flow will be indicated. The scheme will be tested and adopted at national level in the COMPLETE project partner countries in order to specify national authorities responsible for different functions: HAOP detection, warning issue, information flow procedures, decision-making and relevant actions. The EWS will be available online as a special functional module at AquaNIS.