Dojran Lake

Dojran is a shallow lake shared with Greece, warm and rich in fish, and it is known for a fishing technique recorded nowhere else: fishermen built reed fences into the water in winter and used cormorants, driven along the channels, to herd fish into the traps. The method has largely died out but is remembered and demonstrated. The lake level fell alarmingly in the 1990s and was partly restored by pumping water in.

Background

The lake covers 43.1 square kilometres, of which 27.3 square kilometres belong to North Macedonia and 15.8 square kilometres to Greece. Round in outline, it measures 8.9 kilometres from north to south and 7.1 kilometres at its widest, with a maximum depth of 10 metres, and its surface lies at 148 metres. Among lakes that lie partly in North Macedonia, only Lake Ohrid and Lake Prespa are larger. Nov Dojran sits on the western shore, the village of Mouries to the east and the town of Doirani to the south, while the mountain Belasica, or Beles, rises to the north. The lake became a Ramsar site on 2 August 2007.

Source: Wikipedia, "Doiran Lake"

The landscape

• The cormorant fishing - the reed-fence and bird method unique to this lake.
• The reed fences - the winter structures built out into the shallow water.
• The lakeside villages - Star Dojran and Nov Dojran on the Macedonian shore.
• The warm shallow water - the lake used for swimming through the summer.

When to go

May to September is the season for swimming. The traditional fishing was a winter practice and is now rarely done. Summer here is very hot.

Before you go

The traditional fishing method is essentially no longer practised commercially. The lake level fell dramatically in the past and remains a concern. Facilities on the shore are dated.

Nearby

Strumica is north, and the Greek border is south.

Key facts