Snoekenpaaiplaats Rotterdam

When pike are ready to spawn (= mate), they swim back to their place of birth. A pike spawning area has been created in the Berg en Broek Park in Rotterdam.

Every year, pike come here in February/March to reproduce. Adult pike swim from the Bergse Plassen via a fish ladder to the spawning site.

At the beginning of the year we raised the weir at Berg en Broekpark. This way, water can flow from the Bergse Achterplas into the spawning site. This is done with the help of a windmill. The spawning ground is actually a piece of grassland with a layer of water on it. That is a nice and quiet place for the pikes. The grass provides shelter and the shallow water here quickly becomes slightly warmer than the water in a lake or river. When and how quickly pike reproduce depends on the water temperature.

At the end of spring we let the layer of water flow away again. In this way, the flooded grassland slowly dries up. The pike then migrate to the waterways in the spawning area and follow the water flow to the Bergse Achterplas. There they find their habitat among the aquatic and bank plants and space in the water to continue to grow. Sufficient pike is important for good fish stocks in the Bergse Plassen. And that contributes to good water quality.