http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/co...2f08400a9.html
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'Nemo' spawns clown fish craze
By Susan Salisbury, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, June 11, 2003
Around here, they're asking for Nemo by name.
And Dory, too.
In what can be nothing else than a mounting wave of kid power, area pet shops say they're seeing an increase in sales of clown fish since the debut May 30 of Finding Nemo, the Disney/Pixar Studios animated tale of a fishnapping that had taken in $143.3 million nationwide as of last weekend. The bright-orange ocellaris clown fish, or false percula clown fish, is the species that most closely resembles Nemo.
The movie tells the story of a clown fish that has been captured by a diver and winds up in a dentist's office aquarium. Nemo plots his escape while his father and Dory, a blue tang given voice by Ellen DeGeneres, try to rescue him.
Michael Diaz, 19, manager at Jewels From The Sea, a fish and aquarium store in West Palm Beach, was prepared for the movie fans with a 5-gallon 'Nemo's World' tank complete with a light, filter, decorations and one clown fish.
"Most of the people asking for clown fish come in with little kids," Diaz said Tuesday. "We have the tanks set up with decorations to make it look like the Nemo movie's background. There's a little coral reef in it, too."
Diaz said the store has sold half a dozen of the $89.99 setups so far and estimates sales of clown fish have doubled to 100 a week, from 50. The 5-gallon tank is big enough for only one fish. Those who want more than one fish have to select a larger tank. The average clown fish sells for $15.
Trey Rawls, 5, and his sister Tiarra Lauderdale, 12, both of West Palm Beach, are among the lucky children. They already own a 30-gallon tank with two clown fish. Tuesday, they added a Dory-like blue tang to their aquarium.
"It's Nemo's friend," Trey said.
Tiarra said she finds her friends commenting, " 'Oh, you have Nemo.' They're jealous that I have an aquarium," she said.
The clown fish craze is spilling over into other species, particularly ones that are easier to take care of than a clown fish, which is a saltwater creature.
"Because the clown fish is a marine fish, it's a lot more labor and expense than some parents want to handle," said Sam Martin, manager at Splash Landing Pet Center in Jupiter. "They come in and buy freshwater fish. They can still call it Nemo anyway."
Martin recommends, at minimum, a 55-gallon aquarium, an investment of at least $200 for the would-be clown fish owner.
(Whoosh! The kid-power wave grows.)
At Mark's Ark west of Lake Worth, sales manager Marshall Stephens said sales of "Nemo fish" are definitely up, though he didn't have any specific numbers.
"We made it a point to have them," Stephens said. "We expected it."
Clown fish, which originate in the Indian Ocean, live among the sea anemones and are about 2 to 5 inches long, are big business for a St. Lucie County aquaculture business.
Kevin Gaines, president and chief operating officer at Oceans, Reefs & Aquariums, a hatchery based at the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution in Fort Pierce, said the clown fish is the largest chunk of the company's business. It sells 26 species of marine fish to pet stores, and 10 of those are clown fish species.
"We think the peak will be in the next week or two. We've seen a 10 to 15 percent increase in that species alone," said Gaines, who declined to disclose how many fish the company sells.
The tank-raised fish are the only alternative to those caught in the wild, Gaines said, and unlike ocean-caught fish, are already acclimated to tank life and eating prepared food, which gives them a better survival rate.
The movie could perk up sales of aquarium fish, an industry that's competing with computer games and the Internet for potential hobbyists' time.
David Boozer, executive director of the Florida Tropical Fish Farm Association in Winter Haven, with 180 freshwater-only fish farmer members, said it is too early to tell what impact the movie will have on sales.
"If the movie makes people aware of the hobby of tropical fishkeeping, we will get some activity," Boozer said.
Lee Alvarado, spokeswoman for the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association in Greenwich, Conn., said that movies about pets often lead to increased sales, like the 1996 rerelease of Disney's 101 Dalmatians did. The downside was owners who ultimately neglected their dogs.
"The movie is bringing the joys of owning a fish to the surface. Kids have a tendency to see that and want that," Alvarado said. "(But) it's important to educate them about the responsibility of taking care of a pet."
Some moviegoers, such as Janelle Figueroa, 11, of West Palm Beach, say Nemo's story makes them never want to own an aquarium. She said she felt sad when Nemo was taken away unwillingly.
"I think the fish need to be free and not cooped up in a little tank where they will die," Figueroa said.
Katie Dion, 11, of West Palm Beach, loved the movie and has a beta fish in a freshwater tank at home, but says she will never buy a clown fish, because it would remind her of Nemo.
Her younger brother, Brock Dion, 10, takes it one step further:
"I'm never going to eat fish again," he said.
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so kids are now wanting the nemo fish, a saltwater fish, and its almost a given that a kid will not end up raising it, and there it goes down the drain
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well i got sorta mixed thoughts about this, first is, well just since this movie has come out now they know how the fish trade works.
and i'm sure its the best thing to happen for pet shops.