• Öresund is a narrow strait - only 4km at its narrowest point, uniting Sweden and Denmark;
• one of the World's busiest waterways;
• one of the World's busiest international ferry routes, with more than 70 departures connecting Sweden and Denmark daily;
• the most densely populated metropolitan area of the Nordic countries, app. 3.8 million people live along the shores of Öresund;
• as late as the 1980s, Öresund or Sundet was almost dead due to heavy industrial pollution, non-regulated farming, uncontrolled raw sewage releases into the sea, abandoned fishing gear and heavy marine traffic;

Today, Öresund is seemingly an outlier, however fragile and has been described as “a kind of ‘island’ in a vast deteriorated sea”.
Yet, information about the successes and ongoing challenges remains limited to the general public.

The historical abundance of marine life and trade in salted herring, for example, created the very foundation for the prosperity of the region. However, the herring population eventually declined around the 1700s. As late as the 1980s, the Sound was almost dead due to heavy industrial pollution, non-regulated farming, uncontrolled raw sewage releases into the sea, abandoned fishing gear and heavy marine traffic.

Slowly over the years, there has been an awakening driven by scientists and researchers who have presented hard facts to politicians, stakeholders, enterprises and the general public. As a result, Öresund and the surrounding waters is undergoing a positive change today. Yet, the penetration of information to the general public (ca. 3.8 million) about the successes and ongoing challenges remains limited.

Given the high importance of this local ecosystem for marine biodiversity and society, its protection should be a priority. Ongoing activities like unsustainable fishing, sand dredging, land reclamation, and heavy maritime traffic threaten species and habitats, and some key communities have declined in recent decades (i.e. Haploops).