The Ébrié Lagoon is a long narrow lagoon complex located in the south of Ivory Coast. It lies parallel with the coast on an east/west axis and consists of several linked lagoons. At the eastern end it is linked by a channel to the Aghien and Potou Lagoons, into which the Mé River flows. The other major rivers flowing into the lagoon are the Komoé River in the east, the Agnéby River in the centre, and the Ira River in the west. At the western end, Ébrié is linked by the Asagni Canal to the Tagba Lagoon and the Bandama River. It is connected to the Gulf of Guinea by the Vridi Canal, which was opened as a navigable channel in 1950. The natural mouth of the complex is at Grand-Bassam, but this tends to silt up during the dry season. There are several large and many small islands in the lagoon. The cities of Abidjan, Bingerville, Jacqueville, Attécoubé, Tiagba and Dabou lie beside the lagoon and it is crossed by four bridges. The Ébrié Lagoon has an area of approximately, a maximum length of, and a maximum width of. The average depth is and the maximum depth is. The amount of fresh water entering the lagoon varies with the time of year, but averages per year, and tidal exchanges with the sea average per year. The water is brackish, varying in salinity from 0 to 35‰. It is also turbid and polluted, especially near Abidjan, with high levels of nitrogen and phosphate.
Flora and fauna
There are extensive areas around the lagoon dominated by mangroves such as Rhizophora racemosa, and the golden leather fernAcrostichum aureum. Elsewhere, there are floating aquatic plants in the bays and backwaters, and reeds, sedges and grasses at the edges of the water. The lagoon is separated from the sea by a sandbar and much of the terrain close to the lagoon is swampy, with taller vegetation and some trees. In the shallow parts of the lagoon there are a range of invertebrates including polychaete worms, nemertean worms, oligochaetes, isopods, amphipods and prawns. Over a hundred species of fish have been recorded in the lagoon, and it and the surrounding swamps are home to the African manatee, the pygmy hippopotamus, the Nile crocodile, the West African slender-snouted crocodile and the dwarf crocodile. Birds such as the African darter, the Pel's fishing owl, the white-crested tiger heron and the goliath heron breed here.
Human use
Parts of the lagoon are highly polluted. Chemical pollution comes from the agricultural and industrial activity in the catchment area, with fertiliserrun off occurring particularly in the wet season. Organic and bacterial pollution occurs mainly in urban areas, with high levels of Escherichia coli and Clostridium perfringens being detected. There is an artisanal fishery on the lagoon, employing about seven thousand people using four thousand boats with a potential annual catch of around. The bonga shad accounts for about 75% of the catch, especially in the more polluted waters near Abidjan where it is more abundant than other species. Other fish are found away from the urban areas in unpolluted waters, with the Atlantic bumper and the Madeiran sardinella being abundant, and the Guinean striped mojarra and Senegal jack also contributing to the catch.
