Kategorie: News
Fishermen’s Day, Violence, and Animal Welfare
Over the weekend, nine activists from the Captain Paul Watson Foundation jumped into the Stadtbach stream during Memmingen’s Fishermen’s Day to protect trout from being caught. Videos now circulating online show something that should not be downplayed: The activists were shoved, kicked, and struck with a landing net. The police have launched an investigation.
Those who protest nonviolently must not be attacked—this is not a matter of political stance, but of the rule of law. Anyone who crosses this line with their fists is in the wrong, regardless of one’s stance on the action itself.
But this is precisely where the real debate begins, and it extends far beyond a city stream in Swabia. “We’ve always done it this way” will no longer suffice as a justification in 2026. Of course, traditions provide stability and connect generations, but their age alone does not automatically make them right.
Some customs have evolved alongside our society. But there are also counterexamples. Spanish bullfighting only works because, in the end, an animal is publicly tortured to death. Quite a few historical societies, on the other hand, only admitted women after facing legal pressure…
And now back to Memmingen: on Fishermen’s Day, hundreds of animals die so that someone can receive a royal title. In all three cases, the tradition persists only because it violates the very values we otherwise take for granted.
This is not a call to immediately abolish “one” tradition. However, further development would certainly be desirable, just as the society in which we all live continues to evolve. Such adjustments are feasible if the will to do so exists.
Simply invoking “cultural heritage” as soon as criticism arises is not a defense, but a refusal to engage. Grandfathering is simply not the same as legitimacy. And without support from society, such a tradition cannot survive in the long run anyway.
Whether the action in Memmingen will be remembered as courageous civil disobedience or as an ineffective provocation is open to debate. The violence against the activists, however, is not up for debate. And it should be clear by now that a centuries-old custom alone is no justification.
| We’ve also attached the original press release from the Paul Watson Foundation to our commentary. (General information about this "Fischertag Memmingen" can easily be found with a quick internet search): Memmingen’s Fishermen’s Day is one of Bavaria’s oldest civic festivals. It has its origins in the necessary cleanup of waste. A practical tradition based on the division of labor, which over the centuries evolved into a major city festival. The CPWF has already publicly called on the city and the Fishermen’s Day Association—both last year and this year—to refrain from the fish cull starting in 2026 or to convert it into a version that causes no animal suffering. Neither the association nor the mayor nor the political representatives offered to engage in dialogue; instead, they repeatedly pointed out to us the Fishermen’s Day’s status as intangible cultural heritage and the city’s largest festival. In our view, that is exactly what it should remain—only without the mass killing of animals to determine a “Fishermen’s King.” “Traditions exist in all cultures and are historically and socially important, but the fun stops when it comes to the deliberate and senseless killing of animals.” We also refer to an appellate ruling by the Memmingen Regional Court dated July 28, 2021—issued in an equal treatment dispute concerning the admission of a woman to the fishermen’s subgroup, not in an animal welfare proceeding. In that ruling, the court noted that the association’s practice had strayed from a faithful historical reenactment and that the focus was on the fun factor. We view this as evidence that the “fishing out” event is primarily about competition and entertainment, which is why it lacks the reasonable basis required under Section 1 of the Animal Welfare Act. The selection of the “Fishing King” resembles a fishing competition, which is not permitted in Germany. Yesterday at exactly 8 a.m., when the “fish-out” event began, nine CPWF activists jumped into the Stadtbach. Their goal was to block access to the tunnel under the highway bridge at Schrannenplatz and create a protected refuge for the trout there, thereby saving the lives of as many fish as possible. The action triggered fierce reactions from the fishermen and onlookers. Our activists—especially the women among them—were subjected to physical attacks, some of them severe, by the exclusively male fishermen; these included blows with landing nets to the head and face, as well as kicks to the hands and feet. The police cleared the eastern tunnel entrance relatively quickly, but we were able to keep the western side blocked for much longer, though attacks occurred repeatedly there as well. When the police finally cleared the western end as well, onlookers—who had previously urged our activists to leave the stream—cheered. Unnoticed by the police, however, fishermen and some members of the crowd prevented our activists from leaving the Stadtbach and attacked them until the police were forced to intervene against the fishermen as well. “In Memmingen, the City of Civil Liberties, those civil liberties should also apply to its trout.” —Tom Sterath Yesterday, Saturday, the “City of Civil Liberties” once again killed several hundred trout and crowned its fishing champion. However, it was the first time in the history of Fishermen’s Day that activists actively attempted to save lives during the cull, following several efforts in the days prior aimed at reducing the number of casualties. The Captain Paul Watson Foundation will continue to fight to ensure that, eventually, no more trout will have to die in Memmingen—and that a “Fishing King” can still be crowned. |