The subject coverage includes all aspects of the marine environment of the Baltic Sea, for example ecology, fauna and flora, fisheries, hydrography, pollution, environmental impact, research, planning and administrative measures. Noticeable part of references deal with pollution problems. The references are augmented by classification codes and keywords. Since 1986, the classification and thesaurus of the Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries System, ASFA, of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations have been used. A retrospective reclassification for the older material of 1980 - 1985 has been taken place to improve the uniformity of the material.
All references have the title and keywords in English.
From the year 1990 abstracts have been added to the bibliography. The original documents are deposited in officially nominated contact libraries in every Baltic Sea state. The relevant library information is mentioned in the reference. The documents can be ordered as loans or photocopies also through local scientific libraries from the contact libraries. For your local contact, see the table .