|
| |
CNN.com - 'Releasing Nemo' may harm local fish species - Jul 1, 2004
Saw this and thought the crew would be interested if they you have not seen
it already.
<Thank you for this. Will post. Bob Fenner>
Title: CNN.com - 'Releasing Nemo' may harm local fish species - Jul 1, 2004
CNN.com will expire this article on 07/15/2004.
Copy and paste the following into your Web browser to access the sent link:
http://www.emailthis.clickability.com/et/emailThis?clickMap=viewThis&etMailToID=1846706150&pt=Y
'Releasing Nemo' may harm local fish species
Thursday, July 1, 2004 Posted: 9:36 AM EDT (1336 GMT)
LONDON, England (Reuters) --
Releasing pet fish into the open seas could have a
disastrous effect on marine ecosystems and harm native
species, scientists said on Wednesday.
They have been spotting exotic species in waters far from
their natural habitats and suspect they have been freed from
aquariums.
"It's a 'Finding Nemo' story," marine biologist Brice
Semmens, of the University of Washington, Seattle, told New
Scientist magazine.
In the blockbuster animated film Nemo, a clownfish,
strays from his home and ends up in a fish tank in a
dentist's office in Sydney, Australia while his
over-protective, timid father searches the oceans for him.
"Individuals are releasing their pet fish with the best
of intentions, but in the wrong ocean. It is a really bad
idea," Semmens added.
Exotic fish from the Pacific and Indian oceans and the
Red Sea, including the predatory lionfish, varieties of
angel fish and tang have been sighted off the coast of
Florida.
If the fish breed and establish populations they could
endanger local species.
The lionfish, which has now been spotted in waters from
Florida to New York, is particularly worrying because it
preys on a variety of fish, shrimps and crabs, according to
the magazine.
"In the coming weeks the US National Oceanic &
Atmospheric Administration and representatives from the
aquarium industry will join forces to educate the public
about the dangers of dumping pet fish into the ocean," the
magazine said.
|
|
|
I am curious if any of you have
seen "Finding Nemo" or the game that is out? I have not made
it with the kids to the film but got the game and was surprised by the
content and issues it presents, generally in a negative view.
The
"Finding Nemo" computer game, that apparently follows the
themes of the movie with clips, begins with the young clownfish
venturing too far from the reef near a boat only to be caught by an
ominous diver and taken away screaming in his boat, eventually to
end up in his tank. The theme centers around his efforts to escape and
his fathers efforts to tract him down and save him and bring him home.
The scene in
the aquarium, although pretty, brings up a number of issues:
1) Bringing ocean parasites into
the tank without, of course, a quarantine period. They use a cleaner
shrimp to clean him up.
2) Presentation of some
inhabitants that are not all that compatible or hardy such as a puffer
and a Moorish Idol. They claim that they won't hurt the new fish.
3) Efforts to clog the filter to
force the owner to take them out for servicing, in an attempt to
escape.
4) Plans to escape by getting to
the bay and swimming home.
5) Actually jumping from the tank
and going down a drain to get back to the ocean (illegal dumping?) At
least this myth, that all drains go to the ocean, would possibly prevent
some kids from dropping pet fish directly into bays to let them go.
6) A little girl who is supposed
to get Nemo, the clownfish, for her tank, who abuses the bagged
fish by shaking it around.
Another theme is that "Fish
are our friends, not food". The clownfish goes to the
extent of helping food fish escape from a fisherman's net. I am not sure
if this is more an animal rights or a vegetarian issue.
Possibly it
could at least be considered positive for tank raised, but overall I
interpret it as anti-aquarium, especially saltwater which is a pity as I
thought it might be a positive force when the trailers first came out.
Regards,
Tom Frakes
|
| Finding Nemo
hello Tom,
its always good to hear from you.
i presume you and the family are doing well ?
i have not seen the movie yet, but
i was aware of its production about 2 years ago. having this inside tip
i adjusted the key phrases on my web sites to appeal to those who i
expect would have gone to the internet looking for information as a
result of the movie.
as expected my daily visitors has
risen about 20%. i also had a fellow the other day call me from Boston
after seeing the show and asked if there were any freshwater fish that
resembled the marine clownfish.
aside from the negative
implications you mentioned it certainly appears as though whom ever
developed the story does have insight into the realities and issues of
the marine aquarium trade. its unfortunate that the media, in its many
forms, has far greater influence than our hobby.
hopefully the retail side of the
hobby will not treat this sales and publicity opportunity in a positive
manner, and not allow clownfish to go the way of carnival goldfish.
jim
Aquarium Design
|
Finding Nemo
Hello all!!
First, thanks for all your hard work on this site...I and many others have
certainly benefited!!!
A discussion on Reef Central concerning "Finding Nemo" has been
ongoing, generally about "the Nemo effect" etc. I
don't know your rules about other forums etc, so that is why I have
emailed directly instead of posting in the forum. Marc Levenson
has written a wonderful, informative page to link to for those who want to
buy fish based on the movie. It's definitely an interesting
education meant to encourage people to find out more before the bowl and
clownfish stage. I thought I would pass it along...
Be well!!!
Allison
http://reefcentral.com/FindingNemo/
<Thank you for this. Will post on WWM. Bob Fenner> |
Finding_nemo.jpg
<Hee hee! Good one Joe. Bob Fenner> |
|
|
Finding Nemo
Hi Bob
I am a journalist from The Times newspaper who is doing a piece on the
effect on pet stores, fishkeeping etc that the movie Finding Nemo has, is or
will be having. So I would be very grateful if as a fish expert you could
answer a few questions:
<Okay>
Is Finding Nemo good for the hobby of fishkeeping on a whole?
<Yes (on the whole)... as the show and its bit of controversy has stirred
interest in the environment, the aquarium interest (it has increased sales at
retail pet-fish stores)>
Do you think it will have an adverse effect?
<In the long/ish haul, not really. The vast majority of people are
intelligent, aware enough to understand that "Nemo" is after all
"a show"... Let me ask you, does Disney's "Aladdin" movies
lead you to believe there will be "magic carpet" flight anytime soon?
Me neither.>
If I was a first time buyer where would I go to buy one?
<A "real" LFS (Livestock Fish Store)... as opposed to a
less-discriminating petstore that "has some fish". A real LFS will
discourage "casual" attempts at marine aquarium keeping... the
endeavor does take time, money (a few hundred dollars plus), and some
considerable involvement... education, discernment as to much and many differing
techniques, technology. In other words, there are a few "ways" to keep
marines (even just "Nemos") that one needs to sort through... can't be
practically done by children. Not successfully.>
How hard is it to get hold of them?
<Very easy. Nowadays the Clownfish species in question is bred in captivity
in very good numbers and is actually a sturdy aquarium item. Can be and is
easily shipped from aquaculture facilities (mainly in the U.S. and U.K.) all
over the world>
How common are they in UK pet shops?
<Likely one of the most common, if not THE most common species and group
(there are several species of Clownfishes/Anemonefishes, a few of which are
regularly aquacultured and offered) in the marine aquarium interest. Easily in
the top five of marine aquarium fishes in the world>
Are you aware of an upsurge in demand in the last few months?
<Oh yes>
How much do clownfish cost in the UK?
<Three or four pounds I'd guess>
Are you aware of their prices going up?
<No. A seemingly unusual historical trend has been for marine livestock to
decrease in cost over time (decades), particularly aquacultured species...
Strange, but so>
Do you think any pet shops or aquatic centres are trying to cash in, or are
they being extremely sensible about selling to parents with kids who don't
know how to keep fish., i.e. are they turning them away?
<Again, one hears of the occasional "bad" retail experience where
consumers are not dissuaded or even led astray... but this is actually quite
rare. There is no "upside" to trying to fool would-be aquarists... if
they're not informed, serviced and sold properly, they will not "be
successful". Their livestock will surely suffer, likely die. Who does this
serve? Not the trade or the public>
Can you breed them yourselves?
<Yes. There are quite a few current, many past "hobbyist" breeders
who have bred, reared "Nemo" and other Clownfish species>
Where would a UK clownfish originate from?
<Likely from Tropical Marine Centre (http://www.tmc-ltd.co.uk/),
an excellent facility in the U.K.>
How many species are there?
<About twenty-six (http://www.wetwebmedia.com/clownfis.htm)>
Please excuse the dumbness of some of these questions and feel free to
ignore any that repeat, but any help would be much appreciated.
Thanks
Olav
<A pleasure to help you. I am cc'ing TMC as I've mentioned their name here,
and a friend/cohort in the trade, Steve Pro, who has penned statements re the
effect of the "Nemo" show. Cheers. Bob Fenner>
The Newspaper Marketing Agency: Opening Up Newspapers:
www.nmauk.co.uk
Finding Nemo
Hey Bob! How's it going? I wrote an article I thought you might be
interested in for WWM. I originally wrote it for the local newspaper,
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but they decide it was too long. Feel free to post
to WWM.
Sincerely,
Steven Pro
<Wow, good job Steven. Very nice. Will definitely post (like right now!) and do encourage you to send this to FAMA for their editorial or feature publication (will send for you if you'd like, electronically). Thank you for sending this along. Bob F>
FW: Caring for the fish of Finding Nemo
Thanks a lot for forwarding my article! It looks like things are going to
work out. -Steven Pro
<Ah, good. Glad to be of assistance. Bob>
Subject: Caring for the fish of Finding Nemo
Dear Steve:
I'm going to try and use this article ASAP in FAMA. Bob Fenner forwarded
it to me, and because of it's timeliness, I'm going to try to get it
into our Sept issue (out Mid-Aug.).
Please e-mail me your complete mailing address, phone #, and soc. sec. #
for payment. Also, if you happen to have a nice picture of a clownfish,
it would add to the article.
Please get back to me as soon as possible.
Thanks,
Susan Steele
Art Editor/Assist. Editor
FAMA
Tetra and the CBS fiasco
Hi Everyone, PF writing in for a change.
I know we generally don't encourage cross posting between bulletin
boards, but I figured this was an issue that deserves all our attention.
On 6/14/03 @ 8:30 AM CBS ran a segment sponsored by Tetra about keeping
"tropical" fish.
Here's a portion of a post from Reefcentral's discussion from an
eyewitness to this fiasco:
On June 14th CBS's The Early Show aired a brief segment with Carol
Huntley-Weber described as:
"With
the success of the Disney's summer
blockbuster film, "Finding Nemo," tropical fish are now finding
themselves as the hot new pet. Carol Huntley-Weber of Tetra
Fish
Products visited The Saturday Early Show to
show the ease of owning and maintaining an aquarium."
During
the segment, Miss Weber, showed the world
how "easy" it is to setup and maintain an aquarium. To do this she
used
a 15 gallon Mini Bowfront tank (from
Tetra
of course), tap water (made little or no
mention of mixing salt for marine animals) and proceeded to plop in two
Clownfish, a Blue Hippo Tang, two seahorses, and
a
brittle starfish that she had in another bowl
and basically said that is all there is to it.
The url for the discussion on ReefCentral is
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=201848&perpage=25&highlight=Early%20show&pagenumber=1
and page 11 includes the email and snail mail addresses of those involved
at Tetra, as well as their superiors. Within the thread there is also
the address for CBS (who's email box is apparently full of messages from
angry reefers), currently there is a call on to boycott Tetra for their
irresponsible actions.
Here is the contact info for Tetra:
Tetra
3001
Commerce Street
Blacksburg, VA
24060
Phone
Number: 800-526-0650
Fax
Number: 540-951-5415
Alan
Mintz, General Manager
Carol
Huntley-Weber, Marketing Manager
Randy
Hegstad, Pond Product Manager
Weber,
Carol & Bob
904
Roanoke St E
Blacksburg,
VA 24060
(540)
961-5362
Carol
Huntley-Weber's verified email address is
weberc@tetra-fish.com
Here
is the email address for the Early Show on
CBS: earlyshow@cbs.com
Have a better one, PF
| |
|
