Presentation of the area

Name: Pike Lake (Lake Sacalaia)

Location: Bont Valley, between the villages of Fizesu Gherlii and Sic (county of Cluj).

Surface: area of the lake is approximately 26 ha and the reed area covers about 95 ha (most of it upstream from the lake).

Pike Lake, together with the surrounding reed beds consists in a characteristic wetland ecosystem that covers approximately 120 ha.

Description: the lake is formed on an old collapsed salt mine, and in the earlier years, when water first accumulated, the lake was salty. In time, as sediments of plants and soil gathered in the lake, the salinity level dropped dramatically. In the winter, from December until March, the lake is covered by ice almost 50 cm thick.

Pike Lake has three main characteristics:

• It is the only natural lake in Transylvania that has not been subject to significant human negative influences and over the years the lake's natural beauty has remained well preserved;
• It is the deepest fresh-water natural lake in the Transylvania Plain, reaching depths of about 10 m;
• It is the only lake in the Transylvania Plain area that has reed floating islands like those found in the Danube Delta

Statute

• at county level , in 1966, a surface of 26 ha including one third of the lake was declared Nature Reserve by the Executive Comitee of The People's Council of Cluj (document 244/1966); later, in 1994, the surface of the protected area has been extended to 140 ha by the County Council of Cluj (Decision No. 147/15.11.1994);
• at national level , the protected area covers 26 ha (registration no. 2.332, Law no. 5/2000, published in the Official Gazette of Romania no. 152/12.04.2000, Part I).

Permitted activities: sport fishing, since the lake has a large population of pike ( Esox lucius ); birdwatching, camping.

Forbidden: Hunting is forbidden in the Nature Reserve as well as in the surrounding area; other forbidden activities: net fishing, throwing garbage outside the designated areas, collecting bird eggs and disturbing nest areas, lighting fires outside the designated areas.

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