Dory in Danger
Australian researchers are worried fans of the soon-to-be-released film Finding Dory might add to the woes of Dory's real world species the blue tang. When the original Finding Nemo was released, the population of the clownfish suffered because too many people wanted their own Nemo as a pet. Now they fear a similar result for Dory's relatives.
Thirteen years ago a very famous clownfish first swam across our screens on a mission to find his son Nemo. But researchers at Flinders Uni and the University of Queensland say Finding Nemo ended up causing more abductions, just like this. Even though the story is all about a fish trying to escape captivity, the movie actually inspired more people to keep clownfish as pets and that meant more were taken from the wild to keep up with the demand. Even now, conservationists say more than 1 million clownfish are taken from their homes every year. That's why these students have a program to keep these tropical fish at their school.
STUDENT 1: Hi my name's Taylor I'm a BG ranger, come and check out our cool environmental classroom reef-ugee.
STUDENT 2: At school we breed clownfish and every clownfish we breed and sell is one less taken off the reef.
STUDENT 3: These are some of the baby clownfish we bred last year.
STUDENT 2: This is marine green frozen food for the fish.
STUDENT 1: We also teach visitors that come to our school the importance of the Great Barrier Reef and how to care for it.
Now, there's a sequel on the way also starring Dory, the blue tang. Those same researchers are worried that if this movie becomes as popular as the original it could mean thousands of real blue tangs end up right where Nemo did, in someone's fish tank.
Unlike goldfish, which are mostly bred in captivity, many tropical fish species, like the blue tang, find it really hard to reproduce in captivity, or they can't at all. So that means they're plucked from the oceans just like Nemo.
Researchers say around 90% of the tropical fish you see in pet shops were taken from the wild and many of those collected don't even survive the trip. When fish like Dory do survive and end up in tanks, it can still end badly.
STUDENT 3: This is the blue tang. Blue tangs are very hard to keep alive in fish tanks because they can get diseases very easily.
It's a big reason why these guys are making such a big effort to protect tropical fish.
STUDENT 1: It is okay to have a tropical fish as long as there is a limit of fish being caught.
STUDENT 4: Well, when you're buying the tropical fish from a pet store you have to ask how hard it is to look after, if it's captive bred and if you can keep it in a tank.
So although these colourful characters are pretty to look at, conservationists say it's better for fans to take home the movie's real message and leave plenty of Nemo's and Dory's in their natural habitat.
- Nic Maher | Reporter
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- Finding Dory: Film release sparks concern for impact on dwindling global clownfish population: ABC News | weblink
- Saving Nemo project hopes Finding Dory movie does not create same fish craze: ABC News | weblink
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