Operational Strategy 2021–2023 : Report 2020:30

The Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management (SwAM)is a national administrative agency that implements a cohesivemarine and water management policy on behalf of the Swedishgovernment. We are working with issues of conservation, restorationand sustainable utilisation of lakes, watercourses, seas andfisheries resources. We collaborate with other public agencies andactors in society in Sweden, the EU and globally. We work from source-to-sea, applying a knowledge-based and coordinated management approach with a focus on the ecosystem. An ecosystem-based management approach means that all management tools must work in harmony to strengthen the ecosystems and the ser vices they provide. Stakeholder engagement at all levels is a critical approach in ecosystem-based management. The national policy framework emphasises assuming responsibilityfor the future, for Sweden and the world around us, inaccordance with the Sustainable Development Goals (Agenda2030). This means taking strong measures in order to achieve cleanseas, lakes and watercourses. It also means addressing eutrophication, environmental toxins, littering and other threats to lakes, coasts and seas, and in doing so creating an enabling framework for a blue and bio-based circular economy in which fishing is an important part. The operational strategy defines the framework in our process of planning and follow-up. Together with an annual operational plan, the strategy is translated into activities at unit level – the results of which we measure in the effects on the environment and in societal benefits, and report to the government, the general public and globally. The world around us is in constant flux, and the operationalstrategy is therefore not a static document. It can be updatedduring the strategy period until 2023, on the basis of national, EU-wide and global priorities