LAS Notranjska (Krivo)LOV: The story of fishing on Lake Cerknica lives on

Fishing has been part of the story of Lake Cerknica for centuries. This is evidenced not only by the old fishing nets, lures, fish baskets and photographs that have survived to this day, but also by historical records. Among the oldest and best known is undoubtedly Valvasor’s The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola, published in 1689. In it, the author devoted considerable attention to Lake Cerknica, its intermittent nature, and the lives of the people who were closely connected to it.

In Valvasor’s time, fishing was not a leisure activity as we know it today, but an important part of everyday life and survival. Fishing rights were precisely regulated and linked to different estates. When the water level began to fall, people had to wait for a signal that fishing was permitted. They would then head towards the waters and sinkholes, where they caught fish using the equipment available at the time. Valvasor also describes exceptionally large catches – during some periods of the lake’s disappearance, there were so many fish that they were loaded onto carts and transported even to more distant places.

However, fishing on Lake Cerknica is not merely a story about the catch. It is also a story about people, water, and an extraordinary karst landscape that is constantly changing. The intermittent nature of the lake has always shaped the way of life of local people and influenced when and how they could fish. Over time, attitudes towards fishing have changed. What was once primarily a matter of survival is today connected with sport, socialising, nature conservation, and the responsible management of fish populations.

Another special feature of Lake Cerknica is that the changing water levels create different living conditions for fish. As the water drains into the karst underground, fish can become trapped in disappearing pools and sinkholes. One of the important tasks of today’s fishermen is therefore also to rescue the fish and move them to areas where they can survive until the water returns. Fishing today is thus no longer simply about catching fish, but is also connected with understanding the ecosystem and caring for nature.

That is why it is important to preserve the memory of the people, knowledge, traditions, and objects that tell the story of fishing in this area. Fishing heritage is part of the identity of the landscape and an important bridge between how people around Lake Cerknica lived in the past and how we live with the lake today.

With this in mind, as part of the LAS Notranjska – From Poaching to Sustainability project, the interior of the Cerknica Fishing Lodge was renovated and an exhibition dedicated to fish, fishing, and fishing heritage was established. The project, led by the Cerknica Fishing Association, addresses, among other things, the preservation of cultural and natural heritage connected with fishing and waterways, as well as raising awareness of the importance of fish for nature and the environment.

The renovated Fishing Lodge will become a place where the history of fishing can quite literally be taken into your hands. The exhibition will feature works and photographs from various competitions, old photographs from the history of the association, notes, a collection of traditional fishing equipment and lures, as well as preserved fish specimens. A particularly interesting part of the collection is the electrofishing equipment dating from 1961. The exhibition will be complemented by promotional videos from the Pri Štefacovih Farm and other materials, together revealing different aspects of life, work, and fishing traditions in the Cerknica area.

Each object tells a part of the story. Together, they offer a glimpse into a fishing tradition that cannot be understood without Lake Cerknica, its waters, and the people who have learned, generation after generation, how to live with them.

We invite you to discover this story for yourself. The opening of the renovated Cerknica Fishing Lodge and the new exhibition will take place on Saturday, 5 September, at 17:00 at Notranjska cesta 59, Cerknica.

The “From Poaching to Sustainability” project is co-financed by the European Union and the Republic of Slovenia under the Strategic Plan of the Common Agricultural Policy 2023–2027, through the LEADER/CLLD measure of the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD).