Neman (Nemunas)

The Neman, Nioman, Nemunas or Memel is a river in Europe that rises in central Belarus and flows through Lithuania then forms the northern border of Kaliningrad Oblast, Russias western exclave, which specifically follows its southern channel. It drains into the Curonian Lagoon, narrowly connected to the Baltic Sea.

It flows about 937 km (582 mi), so is considered a major Eastern European river. It flows generally west to Grodno within 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) of the Polish border, north to Kaunas, then westward again to the sea.

Fish found include the: perch, pike, zander, roach, tench, bream, rudd, ruffe, and bleak.

Its tributaries have stone loach, three-spined stickleback, minnows, trout, sculpins, gudgeon, dace and chub.

Atlantic salmon migrated upstream to spawn; however, dams on the river, most of them built in the 20th century, have depleted them. The dam at Kaunas does not provide fish ladders. The spawning season took place in the fall. Ethnographic studies, from before the dams, state night fishing, using torches and harpoons, was a common technique.