Salmonids in the Līgatne river near the restored fishway

The live stream will return in spring.

The camera provides a unique opportunity to observe the underwater life of the Līgatne river downstream from the fishway, which was restored in the summer of 2020. The observations are available on dabasdati.lv here.

The fishway in the Līgatne river is one of the few structures of its kind in Latvia that enables the migration of fish and other aquatic organisms past human-made obstacles such as sluices and hydropower dams. Salmonid species that inhabit the Līgatne river and other watercourses in Latvia either permanently or during migration are unable to overcome such barriers during their spawning season in autumn and winter, especially where water obstacles are linked to electricity production.

In August 2020, in order to improve the spawning conditions in the Līgatne river, the Līgatne Municipality restored the wooden fishway structure originally built in 2013. This restoration enables salmon, brown trout, sea trout and grayling—all species with characteristic spawning migrations—to reach upstream spawning grounds. Already during the first spawning season after the restoration, numerous migrating fish were observed, and the underwater camera provides an insight into this process.

As with our bird-nest live streams, the underwater camera is supported by an LMT 4G connection.

The camera system was installed by Jānis Ķuze and Jānis Rudzītis, with additional assistance from Jānis Zilveris, Gunars Šķēle and Māris Mitrēvics. The Latvian Fund for Nature expresses its gratitude to the Līgatne Municipality, especially Ainārs Šteins, the representatives of “Līgatnes komunālserviss,” and everyone else involved in setting up and maintaining this live-stream camera!