Lake of Liepāja — the fifth-largest lake in Latvia

Latvia

Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...

, located near Liepāja

Liepaja

Liepāja ; ), is a republican city in western Latvia, located on the Baltic Sea directly at 21°E. It is the largest city in the Kurzeme Region of Latvia, the third largest city in Latvia after Riga and Daugavpils and an important ice-free port...

 in Liepāja district

Liepaja District

Liepāja District was an administrative division of Latvia, located in the Courland region, in the country's west.Districts were eliminated during the administrative-territorial reform in 2009....

.
Total area of the lake - 37,15 km², length - 16.2 km, average depth - 2.0 m, coastal line length - 44.6 km.

Lake of Liepāja is a pod-shaped shallow eutrophic coastal lake with extensive areas of emergent vegetation (Phragmites

Phragmites

Phragmites, the Common reed, is a large perennial grass found in wetlands throughout temperate and tropical regions of the world. Phragmites australis is sometimes regarded as the sole species of the genus Phragmites, though some botanists divide Phragmites australis into three or four species...

, Typha

Typha

Typha is a genus of about eleven species of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the family Typhaceae. The genus has a largely Northern Hemisphere distribution, but is essentially cosmopolitan, being found in a variety of wetland habitats...

, Scirpus

Scirpus

The plant genus Scirpus consists of a large number of aquatic, grass-like species in the family Cyperaceae , many with the common names club-rush or bulrush . Other common names are deergrass or grassweed.The genus has a cosmopolitan distribution, and grows in wetlands and moist soil...

, Sparganium

Sparganium

Sparganium is a genus of flowering plants, containing about 20 species in temperate regions of both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. It was previously placed alone in the family Sparganiaceae...

), surrounded by seasonally flooded meadows and arable land. Polders and dams enclose most of the wetland area. In the lake are found 14 species of fish - pike

Esox

Esox is a genus of freshwater fish, the only living genus in the family Esocidae — the esocids which were endemic to North America, Europe and Eurasia during the Paleogene through present.The type species is E. lucius, the northern pike...

, roach

Rutilus

Rutilus is a genus of fishes in the family Cyprinidae, commonly called roaches. Locally, the name "roach" without any further qualifiers is also used for particular species, particularly the Common Roach Rutilus (Latin for "shining, red, golden, auburn") is a genus of fishes in the family...

, perch

Perch

Perch is a common name for fish of the genus Perca, freshwater gamefish belonging to the family Percidae. The perch, of which there are three species in different geographical areas, lend their name to a large order of vertebrates: the Perciformes, from the Greek perke meaning spotted, and the...

, bream, crucian carp

Crucian carp

The crucian carp is a member of the family Cyprinidae, which includes many other fish, such as the common carp, or the smaller minnows. They inhabit lakes, ponds, and slow-moving rivers throughout Europe and Asia. The crucian is a medium-sized cyprinid, which rarely exceeds a weight of over 3.3...

, tench

Tench

The tench or doctor fish is a freshwater and brackish water fish of the cyprinid family found throughout Eurasia from Western Europe including the British Isles east into Asia as far as the Ob and Yenisei Rivers. It is also found in Lake Baikal...

, eel

Eel

Eels are an order of fish, which consists of four suborders, 20 families, 111 genera and approximately 800 species. Most eels are predators...

, vimba

Vimba

Vimba is a genus of cyprinid fish that is found in Europe and western Asia. There are currently three described species.- Species :* Vimba elongata * Vimba melanops...

, burbot

Burbot

The burbot is the only gadiform fish inhabiting freshwaters. It is also known as mariah, the lawyer, and eelpout. It is closely related to the marine common ling and the cusk...

, carp

Carp

Carp are various species of oily freshwater fish of the family Cyprinidae, a very large group of fish native to Europe and Asia. The cypriniformes are traditionally grouped with the Characiformes, Siluriformes and Gymnotiformes to create the superorder Ostariophysi, since these groups have certain...

, zander

Zander

Zander is a species of fish. The scientific name is Sander lucioperca , and it is closely allied to perch. Zander are often called pike-perch as they resemble the pike with their elongated body and head, and the perch with their spiny dorsal fin. Zander are not, as is commonly believed, a pike and...

, smelt, bitterling

Bitterling

The Amur Bitterling, Rhodeus sericeus, is a small fish of the carp family. It is sometimes just called "bitterling", but this is wrong: for one thing, it dates back to the time when the European Bitterling was still considered conspecific with R. sericeus, for another, "bitterling" properly refers...

 and rudd

Rudd

The common rudd Scardinius erythropthalmus is a bentho-pelagic freshwater fish, widely spread in Europe and middle Asia, around the basins of the North, Baltic, Black, Caspian and Aral seas.-Artificially introduced:...

. In May only licenced fishing is allowed. Price of licence - 10 LVL

Latvian lats

The lats is the currency of Latvia. It is abbreviated as Ls. The lats is sub-divided into 100 santīmi ....

 (about $20). From 1977 till 1999 the lake was an ornithological preserve with 2 species of birds - swan

Swan

Swans, genus Cygnus, are birds of the family Anatidae, which also includes geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Sometimes, they are considered a distinct subfamily, Cygninae...

s and duck

Duck

Duck is the common name for a large number of species in the Anatidae family of birds, which also includes swans and geese. The ducks are divided among several subfamilies in the Anatidae family; they do not represent a monophyletic group but a form taxon, since swans and geese are not considered...

s. Since 2004 the lake is included to European Union protected territories list - Natura 2000

Natura 2000

Natura 2000 is an ecological network of protected areas in the territory of the European Union.-Origins:In May 1992, the governments of the European Communities adopted legislation designed to protect the most seriously threatened habitats and species across Europe. This legislation is called the...

. In 2008 the nature protection plan of Liepāja lake was developed by Grontmij Carl Bro company.

Islands

Lake of Liepāja has 13 islands, most notable from which are Atteku(-as), Zirgu, Pērkona, Putnu (kalva) and Cionas island. On the east bank of the lake is located Friča grove

Grove (nature)

A grove is a small group of trees with minimal or no undergrowth, such as a sequoia grove, or a small orchard planted for the cultivation of fruits or nuts...

, on the west bank near Pērkone

Perkone

Pērkone is a small suburban settlement in Nīca parish, near the south border of Liepāja, Latvia. Near Pērkone is located Reiņu forest , the one of the closest to Liepāja forests....

 is located Reiņu forest .

History

Historically the lake of Liepāja was connected with lake of Tosmare by the Vernen brook, but in the 20th century the brook was filled up. Later in the 20th century the Fortress canal , which connects the lake to the lake of Tosmare and the sea was dug up. In the second half of the 20th century the plant Liepājas Metalurgs built so called Golodov's dam to separate the polluted part of the lake from the rest of the lake.

Rivers

The rivers Ālande, Bārta, Otaņķe (Brūnupe), Līčupe, Orbupe and Dorupe flow into the lake.