Visdeurbel or Fish Doorbell is back! This doorbell has been helping fish move around a canal, located in Utrecht, Netherlands. Since 2021, viewers of the live stream can click a button located on the website to open the lock to let the fish through. 

In the 6 years of the livestream, pike, eels, catfish, and many more species have been caught on camera. All these fish travel the canals of the Netherlands and during this early time of the year not many boats are going through the locks so they stay close, which traps the fish. Many of these fish are migrating because the water is starting to warm back up. 

When someone is watching the stream they can click the doorbell button and the workers of the lock will receive a notification. They can check the camera to double check that there are actually fish present and waiting for the gate. Then, they can open the gate. Even though it is a small action, it makes a huge impact for the animals living in these canals. 

City employees wanted a way to let the fish through the gate, so they decided to put a camera in the water. They were really worried people wouldn’t join when they first opened up the site that they put flyers up to try to get people to join. They did not need to worry though because it went viral on social media. People thought it was so cool that they could help the environment by just watching a video and clicking a button when seeing a fish. 

Just last year the site hosted over 2.3 million people who pressed the doorbell about 200,000 times. This allowed tons of fish the ability to continue their travels. This year the site opened in late February and will be open through late May.