Regulatory Scenarios to Counteract High Phosphorus Inputs into the Baltic Sea

High phosphorus (P) inputs into environmental system such as the Baltic Sea are a topic of growing concern as eutrophication is endangering this natural ecosystems in its function as a habitat for sea life. The high P inputs are caused to a significant proportion from agriculture. Farmyard manure, sewage sludge, biogas digestates or animal by-products are regularly used as organic fertilizers in agriculture. Numerous studies show that the P balance of farms, particularly those of livestock farms, is very often excessively high. P accumulates in surface layers of agricultural soils when fertilized in excess via manure application and contributes to the eutrophication of both inland and coastal water bodies favorably by surface run-off and erosion. The Baltic Sea is one of the most polluted and endangered marine ecosystems. In the current chapter different options were compiled and discussed, which have the potential to reduce the pollution of the Baltic Sea significantly in future. These different options are intertwined so that each action alone will never achieve the same efficacy in reducing P losses to water bodies as the implementation of the full range of options.