Fish doorbell season begins again letting people help migrating fish in Utrecht
A video with the world's first doorbell for fish began streaming live again from Utrecht for the fourth consecutive year. The video shows an area near the Weerdsluis lock between the Vecht River and Utrecht. Viewers who see a fish can alert the lock keeper by ringing a virtual doorbell, who can then let the fish swim upstream by opening up the gate.
The fish doorbell launches at the same time that fish begin migrating to lay eggs in the Kromme Rijn or Germany, and they begin to swim upstream. Perch and bream were most commonly spotted last year, and some caught a glimpse of the ide, northern pike, pikeperch, common rudd, and the common bleak. Catfish and eel were also seen on camera.
Viewers tried more than 105,000 times to help the fish during the four-month period last year, with the website viewed 8.2 million times in total. Visitors to the website are most likely to see the fish in the early morning, but also those checking in at dusk and the period immediately after. Some fish, like eels and pikeperch, are more likely to be seen at night.
The project is even more popular abroad than in the Netherlands, and the website is now available in English. "Most users came from Germany (464,000) and the United States (137,000). In the Netherlands there were 131,000 users. There were also many users from Great Britain, Austria, Switzerland and Canada," the city of Utrecht said late last June. The livestream has also attracted fish lovers in Spain and Taiwan in previous years.
“The fish doorbell is embraced en masse every year by Utrecht residents and people far beyond. Last year there was also a lot of international attention. This shows how many people enjoy the fish doorbell, but also how important it is. It is a wonderful initiative to increase knowledge about underwater nature,” Utrecht city alderman Linda Voortman said.
Last year, workers put different structures into the water to allow the fish to spread out and hide, giving them more protection from birds and other predators. This year, a city mascot was placed near the fish doorbell. The mascot, Barry de Baars, takes its name from the Dutch word for a European perch.
