The production of energy and the associated built and zoned infrastructure consists mainly of zoned wind power areas, marine cables and gas pipelines in marine areas. In addition, there are several power plants on the coast that utilise the marine area, for example, for fuel transport and as a source of cooling water. In particular, the heat load to the sea caused by the cooling of the oil refinery in Porvoo’s Kilpilahti and the Loviisa nuclear power plant is high, but its impact is limited to a few kilometres from the plants.

The needs of national defence in the Gulf of Finland severely limit the possibilities of for the production of offshore wind power and there are no offshore wind turbines in the Gulf of Finland. There are 10 wind turbines on the coast of Kymenlaakso that produce approximately 71 GWh per year. No wind power infrastructure has been built in Uusimaa.

Finland is reliant on maritime transport; 90% of exports and 80% of imports are transported by sea. The smooth flow of maritime traffic is of great importance to the Gulf of Finland. The majority of Finland’s sea freight and passenger traffic are transported in the Guld of Finland.

A total of 50,000 tonnes of cargo passes through the Gulf of Finland’s ports each year. The largest ports in the Gulf of Finland are HaminaKotka, Helsinki, Hanko and Sköldvik. The value of the export and import goods that pass through these is almost 60% of all of Finland’s import and export transports. HaminaKotka is Finland’s largest universal port, and its different parts include a container harbour, liquid and dry bulk product harbour, a gas harbour, a RoRo harbour and a project harbour. The Port of Sköldvik is Finland’s largest by tonnage. Sköldvik mainly handles crude oil, ready processed oil products, gases and chemicals. The Port of Hanko specialises in forest industry exports and car imports. Container and RoRo transport as well as bulk cargo pass through the various parts of the Port of Helsinki.

The future of maritime transport in the Gulf of Finland is also linked to the development of other forms of transport and mobility in the region. The Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) includes the North Sea-Baltic Sea and the Scandinavian and Mediterranean core networks.

The Port of Helsinki is the largest passenger harbour in Europe by number of passengers. Approximately 12.6 million passengers pass through the Port of Helsinki every year. The most popular route runs between Helsinki and Tallinn, but regular scheduled services also serve the needs of freight traffic to a great extent. The marine area between Tallinn and Helsinki has considerably frequent traffic, but vessel safety is considered to have improved over the last ten years and the risk of a collision between intersecting vessels is considered low. There is also a lot of passenger traffic between Stockholm and Helsinki. Cruises from Helsinki to St. Petersburg has been declining, with only 210,000 passengers in 2017. On the other hand, international cruise ship traffic is growing. Ports which are stopover points for large cruise ships include Helsinki and Kotka’s Mussalo and Kantasatama.

The rich and diverse fish stocks in the Gulf of Finland have provided good opportunities for increasing professional fishing. Small-scale professional fishing in the vicinity of the coast usually consists of multi-species fishing with fish traps and nets. The majority of fishermen operating in the Gulf of Finland are coastal fishermen. In 2019, there were 47 fishermen belonging to Group I and 220 fishermen belonging to Group II in the planning area. Fishing has recently been a declining industry in the Gulf of Finland due to the ageing of professional fishermen, and the industry is not attractive to new operators. Trawling plays an extremely small role in fishing here compared to other Finnish marine areas.

As is the case with Finnish marine areas in general, the majority of fish caught from the Gulf of Finland are herring and sprat. A total of over 10 million kilogrammes of these are fished each year. In addition, a few dozen tons of pike, salmon and whitefish are fished in the Gulf of Finland. Finnish fishermen fish significant quantities of salmon even compared to the standard amounts fished in the Baltic Sea. However, fishing in the Gulf of Finland is minor in comparison to that of other marine areas. All major ports in Finland for the offloading of catches are located outside the Gulf of Finland’s planning area.

The majority of fish grown in Finnish marine areas are produced in the Archipelago Sea. There are only a few fish farming companies in the Gulf of Finland. Fisheries are generally centred in the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland, the marine areas Loviisa, Pyhtää and Virojoki. The poor state of the waters in the Gulf of Finland does not allow for the expansion of aquaculture in its current form.

The fishery areas began operating in 2019, and they are tasked with planning the sustainable use and management of fish stocks. They will prepare a usage and management plan by the end of 2021. Each fishery area is responsible for implementing the plan and monitoring its impacts.

The pull factors of nature, cultural environments and landscape areas in the archipelago and coastal areas are important factors in the development of maritime tourism. The sea is without a doubt the key element of the Gulf of Finland’s nature, and, in this respect, its significance to the attractiveness of the region is great. In addition to coastal cities, the coast of the Gulf of Finland has numerous marine-themed cultural sites, such as fortresses, villa and ironworks areas and shipwrecks. The most important individual tourist destination is UNESCO World Heritage Site Suomenlinna.

One of the clear strengths of maritime tourism in the Gulf of Finland is its location along busy shipping routes. In addition to the frequent route traffic, the nearness of Stockholm, St. Petersburg and other cultural cities in the Baltic Sea Region makes the area attractive for large cruise ships that have started to stop not only in Helsinki but also in Kotka.

The Helsinki Metropolitan Area is a key travel intersection due to the Helsinki International Airport and heavy passenger ferry traffic. In total the overnight stays by tourists in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area is equal to the number of overnight stays in the rest of Finland’s coastal areas. Of these, half were overnight stays by foreign visitors.

The potential of fishing and nature tourism in the Gulf of Finland is immense. Kymijoki is an important fishing river. A change has taken place in leisure-time fishing and fishing tourism from needs-based fishing to recreational fishing, which creates new opportunities for the tourism industry. Hunting tourism is focused on the sea area between Helsinki and Porvoo.

Recreational fishermen catch significant quantities of coastal fish species, such as European perch and pike-perch. They also catch nearly the same amount of salmon and trout as professional fishers. The catches of professional and recreational fishermen in the Gulf of Finland are roughly equal in value. The recreational value acquired from fishing is several times the value of the catch. The greatest pressure for hunting is in the sea area stretching from Helsinki to Hanko, and the most significant seal hunting and sea bird hunting areas are in the waters by Helsinki.

The seaside environment is also important for recreational use. Of Finland’s national parks located by the sea, Gulf of Finland National Park and the Ekenäs Archipelago National Park are located in the Gulf of Finland.

Marine cultural heritage is tangible and intangible cultural heritage both above-ground and underwater, which is linked to man’s relationship with the sea and the resources found in the past by a community.

Maritime cultural heritage includes both concrete traces in the landscape and skills, customs and habits related to the marine landscape, such as practices, knowledge, stories and beliefs. These have been passed on from generation to generation helping to present, build and maintain the identities of different communities.

Marine cultural heritage is traces left by humans and elements produced by interaction between humans and nature in a marine environment. Marine cultural heritage is limited to the terrestrial and semi-waterborne areas of the coast, the archipelago and the outer sea, and is visible as the underwater landscape.

Marine cultural heritage is linked, among other things, to the settlement of the coast and the archipelago, maritime transport, fishing and other marine hunting culture, diving, and customs and beliefs that have linked humans to the marine environment.

The archipelago and coastal areas of the Gulf of Finland have been a cradle for social development. The first Stone Age inhabitants who arrived after the Ice Age already utilised the hunting grounds and fishing waters of the coast. Traditional archipelago settlements and coastal fishing villages are good examples of the built environment in the Gulf of Finland. The coastal zone has been a meeting place for different cultures both in times of war and peace. Trade has been conducted throughout history, especially with Sweden and Estonia, but also with other coastal states in the Baltic Sea and the North Sea.

The majority of Finland’s known shipwrecks in the Gulf of Finland where there are a total of 722 wrecks. These include wrecks from the 16th century to the Second World War, both commercial and military vessels, as well as pleasure yachts, barges and peasants’ vessels, etc. The diversity of the wrecks is the result the Gulf of Finland’s key status as a fairway and passage throughout history.

The current area of Kotka was a stage for battles between Sweden and Russia at the end of the 1700s. Two sea battles (1788 and 1790) were fought in the area, the latter of which, measured by the number of ships and men, was the largest sea battle ever fought in the Baltic Sea. These sea battles also formed an underwater cultural landscape in the area.

Numerous old harbours are known to have been on the coast of the Gulf of Finland and the coast of the Gulf of Finland has an ancient shipping lane, the first written description of which is a Danish Itinerario from the turn of 1300s. The maritime infrastructure of the Gulf of Finland planning area also includes fairways, canals, bridges, cable ferries and piers ad well as land and sea signs that guided traffic, such as cairns, beacons and lighthouses.

Military history and defence structures are an integral part of the maritime heritage of the Gulf of Finland. Fortress hills were equipped for defence already during the Iron Age. The coast was systematically fortified in the 1700s, during the power struggle between Sweden-Finland and Russia, and all Finnish fortresses from the 1700s are located in the Gulf of Finland’s area. The Swedes built the fortresses off the coast of Hanko, Suomenlinna fortress off the coast of Helsinki and Svartholm fortress off the coast of Loviisa. Russia in turn built the Ruotsinsalmi sea fortress in Kotka to protect its capital city of Saint Petersburg. This was part of a more extensive fortress chain built to protect the eastern border, which continued all the way to Savonlinna.

The popularity of living on the coast and in the archipelago increased at the end of the 19th century, and the beginning of the 20th century which led to the construction of marine-themed health spas in the Gulf of Finland in Helsinki’s Kaivopuisto Park, in Hanko and in Loviisa. Villa communities were also established in the cities as a result of the spas.

Several unique landscapes can be identified along the coasts of the Gulf of Finland planning area. In Uusimaa, these include Ekenäs’ western archipelago coast and archipelago coast off Ekenäs and Inkoo as well as the archipelago coasts between Porkkala and Sipoo and Porvoo and Loviisa. The high seas open to the south of these. In Kymenlaakso, the archipelago landscape is divided into the landscape area south of Tammio and Rankki and the Haapasaari outer marine area. The coastal areas of Pyhtää, Kotka, Hamina and Virolahti can be identified on the coast.

As part of the cultural heritage entries, national urban parks with maritime values have been proposed. Of Finland’s national urban parks three are located in the Gulf of Finland in Hanko, Porvoo and Kotka. The aim of the national urban parks is to preserve urban nature and the built cultural environment as an extensive, integrated whole. The cultural and natural landscape of the Porvoo National Urban Park’s area is that of an estuary which has visible traces left behind by the area’s long history of human settlement and culture. The region includes key antiquity sites and historical urban areas, established old parks and recreational areas and nature conservation areas. The Kotka National Urban Park represents, in particular, the region’s fishing, sawmill industry, war, shipping and trade history, which are also significant nationally. The urban park includes marine areas in the eastern Gulf of Finland, the city centre’s parks and built blocks and the banks of Kymijoki. The Hanko National Unban Park comprises mainland Finland’s coastal green areas, sandy beaches and the valuable sections of the city centre, while in the sea the area’s border follows the municipal border and includes the islands to the south of the city centre and the western archipelago.

The situational picture of Finnish marine cultural heritage 2019 (link) prepared by the Finnish Heritage Agency has been used to support the construction and planning of the situational picture of regional cultural heritage.

The maritime industry consists of equipment manufacturers, turnkey suppliers, design agencies, software and system suppliers as well as shipbuilding, repair and offshore shipyards. There is a large number of different maritime industry businesses that demand specialist expertise and that develop and utilise advanced technology, and this is also highly significant in terms of the creation of innovations. The Gulf of Finland region has significant expertise and training in the maritime industry, such as the degree programme in marine engineering at Aalto University. The Helsinki Shipyard operates in the Gulf of Finland in the same area as Helsinki’s West Harbour. The HaminaKotka Port area houses important port-related industry, such as actors involved in the metal, energy and chemical industries and biorefinery activities.

Research and development activities in oil spill clearance are state-of-the-art in the Gulf of Finland’s area. Expertise in arctic shipping is also seen as the region’s international strength.

The seabed sediments in Finnish marine areas are, geologically speaking, very young. In practice, all sea sand and gravel reserves were formed at the end of the last Ice Age or after that over the past 13,000 years. The recoverable reserves are mainly located in the subsea extensions of the ridges and terminal moraine bodies created when the glacier melted. To a lesser extent, recoverable minerals can be found in other moraine or erosion-caused sand sediments.

The area’s iron manganese deposits are the most interesting seafloor reserves. These have been studied from the 1960s due to their iron, manganese, phosphorus and earth metal reserves. Iron manganese sediments are found in nearly all of Finland’s marine areas. The possibilities for utilising phosphorus bound to the seafloor have also been considered in recent years.

While sea sand and gravel extraction has thus far been of a small scale in Finland, the need to exploit seafloor reserves is expected to grow as the availability of on-land gravel and sand resources declines, especially in the vicinity of growth centres. According to estimates produced in a background report produced by the Geological Survey of Finland, there are be approximately 2-3 billion m3 of sand and gravel in Finland’s marine areas, which is equal to approximately the amount of aggregates used in Finland over a period of 50 years. The estimate is based on the surface area of the surveyed sand and gravel deposits and a sediment thickness of five metres. However, efforts are being made to continuously reduce the use of virgin aggregates, and to transition increasingly to a circular economy in aggregate management.

Iron manganese sediments are found in nearly all of Finland’s marine areas, which are the result of biogeochemical processes in aerobic conditions On the basis of materials and models produced by the Geological Survey of Finland and the Finnish Inventory Programme for the Underwater Marine Environment (VELMU) there is an abundance of iron manganese formations om the Gulf of Finland’s marine areas.

Sea sand and gravel have been extracted from the Gulf of Finland predominantly for the needs of ports. The extraction areas of Soratonttu and Itätonttu are located off the coast of Helsinki. There is also a sea sand and gravel extraction area off the coast of Loviisa. The need to use mineral aggregates from the seafloor has declined due, for example, to aggregates generated in connection with the large infrastructure and other construction projects.

Blue biotechnology is a new sector, which from the perspective of the marine area’s use, refers to biomasses produced and harvested at sea and their production potential. In Finland, biomass potential has mainly been identified for common reed in lakes and less valuable fish. Growing algae in Finnish conditions is challenging due to the small amount of light and cold temperatures. Cultivation potential could be found in various waters containing waste heat and nutrients, which are formed for example by the pulp industry and in wastewaters. The low salinity and poor temperature conditions of Finland’s waters are a challenge in the cultivation of shellfish compared to other areas in the Baltic Sea. The potential for processing specialised products lies especially in the side-streams of the fisheries industry.

The special needs of national defence have been identified and taken into account in EU legislation in the Marine Strategy Framework Directive and in Finland’s national legislation in the Land Use and Building Act. Under the Land Use and Building Act, the needs of national defence must be secured and taken into account in land use planning and maritime spatial planning.

The Finnish Defence Forces carry out air and maritime surveillance in accordance with the Act on the Defence Forces (551/2007) and the Territorial Surveillance Act (755/2000) in all of Finland’s national territory and in its vicinity. National defence requires an active approach from the National Defence Forces in marine areas meaning comprehensive surveillance of air and sea. The Gulf of Finland and the southern parts of the Archipelago Sea are very important areas for Finland’s overall defence.

The implementation of the statutory tasks of the Finnish Defence Forces limits the other use of marine areas in some areas to the nature, location and timing of the activities. Finland’s marine areas include secured areas (18), shooting and training areas as well as their associated hazard and restriction areas. From the point of view of national defence, the usability of fairways, the needs of management systems under normal conditions and the underwater structures of the Defence Forces also play a key role. In addition, there may still be naval mines and other munitions during originating from the time Finland was at war and harmful substances from various activities in Finnish marine areas. These should be taken into account and examined on a case-by-case basis in more detailed planning.

Secured areas that are important to the arrangement of national security and territorial surveillance have been appointed in Finland’s marine areas and territorial waters. Their boundaries have been specified very carefully. Finland’s 18 secured areas are located in the Gulf of Finland and the Archipelago Sea. The Territorial Surveillance Act contains provisions on the secured areas and the operating restrictions in these secured areas, the purpose of which is to secure Finland’s territorial integrity. There is usually a military area located within a secured area and these have a 100 metre buffer zone in which civilians are not permitted. The area is marked with signs prohibiting landing ashore and disembarkation. This limits anchoring in the area. Any activities in protected areas require a permit.

The Gulf of Finland is an important area with regard to Finland’s national defence and as the EU’s external border. The activities of the Finish Defence Forces in the Gulf of Finland have been taken into account in the preparation of the maritime spatial plan, for example as a limiting factor for wind power and one factor to take into account in the coordination of other activities.