The "Finding Nemo" Effect

[JodiI]

See this? http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/20...-effect-is-plundering-wild-clown-fish-stocks/

Thoughts?

 

[SkyShark]

I would be very surprised if all the "facts" they cite in that article are in fact accurate. This really highlights the need for good LFSs that will take the time to properly educate the people coming in to the store hoping to go home that day with a new tank with a nemo and dory. It's great to see more people interested in the hobby and learning about the oceans.

 

[MuralReef]

Whether all of the facts are accurate or not the negative portrayal of the hobby is what is disconcerting. Not every LFS is going to educate the customer and if they don't get what they want they will just go to the big box stores and get what they want. Petsmart is already taking advantage of this and they don't even sell saltwater fish.

 

[SkyShark]

Very true. At least one of the big box pet stores (I think Petco) has committed to carrying only captive bred fish when possible. Unfortunately that isn't possible for the majority of the fishes in the hobby (yet), but it is a positive step.

 

[MuralReef]

Petco sells a lot of wild caught like blue tangs. Which often have ich as do many of their fish.

 

[SkyShark]

Yes, please don't take my comment as an endorsement of the big box fish stores, still plenty of other issues there!

 

[MuralReef]

This is the problem with all of the Disney movies. They have a very negative impact on the pet industry. When 101 Dalmatians came out everyone ran out and got their kid one and when they realized how demanding they were they ended up in shelters.

 

[JodiI]

I am surprised at the focus on clownfish rather than tangs. Since the tangs cannot be captive bred, and require much higher conditions for living (bigger tanks, generally less hardy than clowns), I would think the wild tang population would be seeing more reduction than the wild clown population. ESPECIALLY seeing as clowns are so easy to breed in captivity (I can't think the last time I saw one that actually wasn't - though I don't frequent the big box stores). Both of my sets of clowns were captive bred, and my orange ones actually have a whole slew of offspring out in the world (the guy I bought them from estimated he sold well over 100 clowns over the course of a couple years).

I'm also skeptical of a nonprofit raising clowns to sell to the public. They're prices must be very very low if they're going to compete with the for-profits (aforementioned owner of orange clowns said he sold them for about $10 a piece).


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[Fourthwind]

You just cannot fix stupid.. If the movie industry were to avoid every subject that might make someone do something stupid, we would be left with nothing to watch. Yes this topic affects us in this hobby, but think about it. What movie out there hasn't affected someone or something, and often in a tragic way. There are lots of things to worry about in this world. This is one of those you cannot change other than maybe your own habits. So far I have only bought 1 fish that was not captive bred. I believe in buying frags raised by hobbyist. Make the changes at home folks.

 

[scchase]

Sadly while the issues in the article are sort of relevant, it is nothing more than a propaganda piece. National Geographic did a similar one about two months ago, the came out with a much better one last month.

 

[scchase]

As
Old article along the same lines as the Huffpost one:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/...-saltwater-tropical-fish-cyanide-coral-reefs/
​New one with a much more balanced view that actually says something important:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2...d-caught-fish/

 

[JodiI]

I didn't know they had captive bred yellow tangs! How awesome! That's a favorite of mine.


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[SkyShark]

The most recent issue of Coral magazine has a focus on finding dory and Blue tangs.

 

[NanoNexx]

I find it strange that the article focuses more on Clownfish, rather than Blue Tangs. It's easy to tell that the writer of the article knows nothing about our hobby. Every local fish store that I've been too doesn't even stock wild caught Clownfish.