Sharks are not the only predators Nemo and friends have to watch out for. Story Tools
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SYDNEY, Australia -- Finding Nemo or any of his fishy friends is becoming increasingly hard work on the coral reefs of the South Pacific.
The success of the computer animated Disney feature has sparked a global surge in demand for tropical fish that is decimating reef populations, according to Australian media reports.
Among the worst hit areas are the waters around the South Pacific nation of Vanuatu, Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio reported Tuesday.
Dive operators in particular say they have noted a dramatic fall in the number of colorful reef fish in recent months, threatening to deprive the islands of an important ecological and tourism resource.
Industry spokesman Peter Whitelaw told ABC radio that "vast" numbers of fish were being taken in unsustainable numbers to supply the global aquarium trade.
He said the government of Vanuatu had licensed scores of fish catchers because it is desperate to court any form of increased investment.
"We are more or less the underwater watchdogs," Whitelaw told the ABC.
"We are the ones who can see what's going on and they are just taking such vast quantities of fish that we felt it necessary to alert the public."
'Finding Nemo', released earlier this year, was the most successful animated feature ever and is on course to achieve similar success in DVD and home video sales.
The film is about a clownfish on a quest to find his missing son after he is taken by divers from the Great Barrier Reef and ends up in a Sydney aquarium.
But environmentalists say the message of the film has been lost by a global aquarium trade eager to cash in on the film's popularity.
"The idea of the movie was for people to question man's need to dominate all the other species for his own gratification," Whitelaw told the ABC.
"These little fish have their own lives to lead in the wilderness," he said. "They're not just ornaments, which is what the aquarium trade see them as."
