Killing Nemo: Coral Reefs Are Dying to Fill Aquariums with Colorful Fish
It’s a true story. Well, not exactly true — clown fishes and blue tangs can’t really talk like they do in the animated film “Finding Nemo.”
But those beautiful fish inhabiting the aquarium in your dentist’s office or cousin’s home are taken directly from tropical coral reefs. And if you found yourself rooting for Nemo, brace yourself.
Each year an estimated 30 to 60 million coral reef fish are removed from tropical reefs and shipped halfway around the world for ornamental display in the United States and Europe. Along the way, many die. Their perilous journey takes them from their coral reef home to a diver’s net, to a boat, to a holding facility, to a jet plane, to an importer’s warehouse, then to a retail store. They make this trip largely in plastic baggies and boxes, the water replaced every few days to replenish oxygen and remove built-up waste.
Not surprisingly, the dirty water and stress take their toll. So to make up for the fish that die, divers take even more from the reef.
While we may find cartoon characters adorable, in reality few of us empathize with captured fish. But beyond the trauma to Nemo and pals is the impact of this largely unregulated practice on coral reefs. More than 85 percent of fish caught for the marine aquarium trade come from Indonesia and the Philippines. Overfishing is rampant in these countries, and controls are almost nonexistent.
Dr. Brian Tissot, a biologist at Washington State University, has studied the impacts of the marine aquarium trade. Some reefs have been “knocked flat,” he says, from overfishing, with fish populations a tiny fraction of what they would be without the trade.
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Amy Mathews Amos is an independent environmental consultant advising conservation groups and others on marine conservation issues.
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