World's first 'Fish Doorbell' inspires millions to help Dutch city protect fish

UTRECHT, Netherlands - A first-of-its-kind online livestream is helping protect migrating fish in the Netherlands by allowing viewers to "ring the bell" when the fish are spotted on camera.

How does the ‘Fish Doorbell’ help?

Dig deeper:

Every spring, the Oudegracht in the Dutch city of Utrecht sees thousands of native freshwater fish swimming upstream as they look for a place to lay their eggs.

Those fish can get held up, however, by a river lock – and that's where the Fish Doorbell is installed.

When someone spots fish and "rings the bell," it alerts staff who can let the fish through. Otherwise, they could be easy prey for predators, experts say.

Screenshot of the Fish Doorbell website, which is based in the Netherlands.

What they're saying:

"It's really fascinating," Anna Nijs, an ecologist and co-founder of the Fish Doorbell project, told the Associated Press. "And I think there are also inside psychological reasons, because we get a lot of fan mail from people who think it's slow TV, and they get relaxed by watching and they find it so positive, and they can actually do something. They can help."

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What you can do:

To watch the Fish Doorbell livestream, click here.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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