The River Sid Catchment Group, started up only last year, and has already been busy both on the river and off – whether with the outreach projects involving young people engaging on what matters to them about the River Sid or the River Sid Catchment Plan public consultation and questionnaire.
The RSCG is not only directly doing projects and research on the River Sid – it’s also looking at ideas beyond. For example, its most recent post looks at the Fish Doorbell – and as they say:
This innovative way of opening up a river for spawning fish may not work on the Sid, but we love this sort of creativity and hope 2025 will bring similar enthusiasm for the sea trout and salmon who are keen to access the clean spawning gravels beyond school weir…
So, what is the ‘fish doorbell’?! The BBC’s Discover Wildlife pages take us to the viral livestream that’s saving fish in the Netherlands:
Three years ago, two ecologists – Anne Nijs and Mark van Heukelum – were standing beside the Weerdsluis lock in the small Dutch city of Utrecht looking at some artwork when they noticed lots of fish in the water. Lots of big perches were waiting for the lock to open.
“In the early spring, when the water gets warmer, some fish species migrate to shallower water and they swim right through the centre of Utrecht looking for a place to spawn and reproduce,” says Anne. But at this time of year “there are no boats sailing through Utrecht so the lock rarely opens.”
While they’re stuck waiting around for the lock to open, the fish are left vulnerable – if predators realise they’re loitering, they could come to snap them up. The lock should open more often in spring to let the fish go on their way, they thought, but how would the lock operator know if fish were waiting to go through?
Mark came up with the idea of the Fish Doorbell. A live stream in the water lets members of the public keep an eye out for fish gathering by the gates. When they see them waiting, they ring the digital doorbell to alert the lock keeper that fish are waiting. When there are enough fish in the ‘queue’, the keeper opens the wooden gates so the fish can continue their journey more quickly and with less chance of being eaten.
With the latest from the fish doorbell Utrecht itself:
The 2024 Fish Doorbell season is over. Last spring, many thousands of fish passed through the lock again. Thanks to thousands of people from all over the world who helped these fish through the lock. On behalf of the fish and the Fish Doorbell team, thank you!
Fish swim up the rivers every spring. Right through Utrecht, looking for a place to lay eggs and reproduce. Want to know more? Go to About the Fishdoorbell.
We’ll be back on March 3, 2025! A new spring, a new fish doorbell season. See you then!
And there’s more of their nicest photos – plus some great videos of the Dutch Wall Fish
As the River Sid Catchment Group say, we love this sort of creativity and hope 2025 will bring similar enthusiasm to the River Sid!
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