When the family-friendly movie "Finding Nemo" came out 13 long years ago, every child who saw the movie wanted to have a clownfish of their own. They wanted a Nemo they could call their own to keep in a tank and see every day. I will admit that I even wanted a clownfish when I was younger. But this is one thing I am glad my parents did not let me get when I asked for it because the whole point of "Finding Nemo," besides wanting to find a child, is to not be stuck in a tank -- to be in the wild where they were meant to be. People who are buying these fish did not listen to the real lesson that the movie was trying to convey: Keep these fish in the wild!
The demand for these fish affected the population of clownfish in a terrible way; they are being collected from reefs in ridiculous numbers. The intense collection of these fish, and other species of wild fish, is impacting the environment and health of the reefs and other kinds of fish in the ocean. The good thing about clownfish is that they can be bred in captivity, therefore obtaining fish that way would not influence the health of our oceans.
Now that "Finding Dory" is being released, people will want even more clownfish and more blue tangs - Dory's species. Unfortunately, it is very, very difficult for blue tangs to be bred in captivity, so much so that most people say it cannot be done. They are a very sensitive fish, just like Dory is in the movie, so it is almost impossible for them to successfully breed in captive conditions.
For all of you exotic fish lovers, or animals lovers in general, leave these wild fish in the wild; in fact leave everything we call wild in the wild. That is why they are wild in the first place; not everything can be, or should be, domesticated. The human race has a tendency to desire domestication in all animals; we put them in cages, tanks and kennels for our own viewing pleasure in our homes and zoos and I find that a very unfortunate downfall in our species.
Do not boycott this movie because I don't think this is what the makers of these movies wanted to happen to these fish, they just wanted to make a cute family movie. What you should boycott is catching these fish for the fact that people want them because they were in this cute movie. I have already heard great things about "Finding Dory" and I plan on seeing this movie myself, but you will not see me in those pet stores buying these animals because I saw them in these movies, and I hope you will not either. Think about the fish in those reefs being taken away from their family and friends, just like Nemo was. Would you want to be responsible for taking Nemo or Dory away from Marlin?
