When you think about the "Finding Nemo" franchise, you think of the lighthearted children's films and comedy. But, you might be shocked to learn about the harmful effect that this franchise has had on some of the real-life animals featured in the film. "Finding Nemo" brought awareness to fish conservation, but its efforts also backfired.
This harm comes from the increasing demand of clownfish after the original "Finding Nemo" movie's release. When these movies were released, many kids wanted to have their very own Nemo. As a result, the demand for clownfish skyrocketed after the first movie was released in 2003. This was a major problem because marine biologists saw decreasing numbers of clownfish in their natural environments, and they are now fighting to save the clownfish from extinction.
A foundation that's bringing this issue to light prior to the release of "Finding Dory" is Saving Nemo. This Australian conservation fund is working to research and breed clownfish and also educate the public about the situation that the clownfish are in.
Saving Nemo reports that 90 percent of clownfish you see in stores are taken directly from the wild. The Saving Nemo organization breeds clownfish in captivity for research purposes and to sell in local pet stores. They strongly encourage captive clownfish breeding over collecting fish from the wild, and they say that it's "quite easy to breed and raise clownfish in captivity" on their website.
Although it seems that the main focus of this organization is on the clownfish, it certainly isn't. Something that is concerning with the release of a new film starring Dory is that the demand for the blue tang fish is expected to increase. Marine biologists have seen this happen before with clownfish, and now they are trying to prevent it from happening with the blue tang fish.
It is potentially more dangerous for the blue tang fish demand to rise. Clownfish can be bred in captivity, but blue tang fish typically cannot.
Saving Nemo is attempting to bring awareness of this issue and their organization to the voice of Dory herself with their Million Kisses Campaign in hopes of making her their official ambassador. Anyone can take a photo of themselves making a fish face, upload it to Instagram, and tag Ellen DeGeneres.
The Huffington Post points out how this whole situation is similar to the scene where Nemo is scooped up by a diver and placed in an aquarium. In the film, the audience realizes that it seems cruel to take a fish from their natural habitat. But, they go and do it in real life when the film is over.
The most simple way you can help is to avoid buying clownfish and blue tang fish altogether. But, if you must, do your research to make sure that you are buying a fish that was bred in captivity, not taken from the wild. You can consider making a donation to the Saving Nemo foundation, or even spreading the word about what they do can help.
