It is under these circumstances that a citizen science initiative, called the Vembanad Fish Count, was born ten years ago. The event brings together experts, students, researchers, enthusiasts and fisherfolk.

The event is held each year in May, a conducive period just before the rains as the whole of the past year's activity as well as the conditions prevailing for the next year can be recorded. The volunteers start their day in one of the many morning cruises that venture into the backwaters to document the fish species and numbers. The fish are caught from multiple locations using different types of nets and are identified. The collected samples are tediously processed and preserved for future reference. Besides counting the fish, the volunteers also record the water quality for monitoring purposes.