The BalticCAT project aims to support cumulative effect assessments of the Baltic Sea and Kattegat ecosystems, as an important knowledge input to ecosystem-based management and marine spatial planning. 

The project will apply spatial-temporal food web models to test the cumulative effects of natural and anthropogenic stressors on the state of the Baltic Sea ecosystem and to predict the effects of management actions such as fisheries regulations, reduced nutrient and contaminant emissions and marine protected areas on ecosystem state. 

We will also evaluate potential effects of climate change on the effect of cumulative stressors and on the outcome of management actions. We will support the model results by statistical time-series analyses, providing mechanistic understanding of fish stock responses to multiple stressors. 

The results will be used to evaluate how numerical modelling tools can complement already existing tools for marine cumulative effect assessment, such as Symphony and the HELCOM BSII, for instance by adding understanding of trophic interactions and dynamic simulations and allowing for inclusion of the effects of climate change.