Utrecht’s fish doorbell returns on March 2 for migration season
By Simone Jacobs
The popular fish doorbell in Utrecht is set to return for the spring migration starting March 2, 2026. Users will soon be able to access the livestream and press the online doorbell when they see there are fish waiting to come through the lock.
Fish doorbell in Utrecht goes live for annual migration
The first fish doorbell in the world was installed in Utrecht in 2021. Using an underwater camera in the canals and a live stream, anyone looking at visdeurbel.nl can press the doorbell button to alert the lock keeper that there are fish waiting to move through.
Every year, fish travel through Utrecht’s Oudegracht to reach shallow water to lay their eggs. The Weerdsluis remains closed to the fish unless manually opened, which is why the fish doorbell is so important.
This year, Utrecht’s fish doorbell will go live on March 2 for this year’s fish migration. The doorbell usually operates until the end of May.
Millions of viewers help fish with Utrecht doorbell
Many people from all over the world ring the fish doorbell every year. In 2024, visdeurbel.nl saw 2,7 million visitors from a range of countries, from the United States to Brazil.
Last year, the doorbell even went viral when British-American comedian John Oliver featured it in a segment on his HBO show Last Week Tonight. Users surged to around 700.000 per day, much higher than the usual 200.000 per day.
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Editor for the Netherlands at IamExpat Media. Simone studied Genetics and Zoology at the University of Pretoria in South Africa before moving to the Netherlands, where she has been working as a writer and editor since 2022. One thing she loves more than creating content is consuming it, mainly by reading books by the dozen. Other than being a book dragon, she is also a nature lover and enjoys hiking and animal training.Read more