A 22-day nationwide ban began today, Saturday (4 October), to protect mother hilsa during their main breeding season. It will run until 25 October, and catching, transporting, buying, selling and storing hilsa will be banned during this time.

On the last day before the ban, Bagerhat's KB Bazar was overflowing with buyers. But scarce hilsa and high prices left them disappointed.

On Friday (3 October) evening, KB Bazar near Daratana was noisy with the calls of sellers and crowds of buyers. Many went home empty-handed because hilsa were few and dear. Large hilsa were almost absent, the supply of medium fish was also low, and most were small. Hilsa unloaded from trawlers were sold by open auction, and some buyers were also selling retail directly. The trading went on until midnight.

Hilsa weighing 1kg sold for Tk 2,500 to Tk 3,000, 500g hilsa for Tk 1,500 a kg, and hilsa of 250–300g for Tk 1,000–1,200 a kg. Smaller hilsa sold for Tk 500–800.

Besides hilsa, the market sells many kinds of sea fish, including tular dati, rupchanda, dhela chela, kankon, chital, loitta and jaba. Their prices were also relatively high on Friday.

Tanzim Sheikh, who came to buy hilsa, said: "I came to buy hilsa for my two children, but I'm going back disappointed."

A buyer named Aminul Islam said: "A 1kg hilsa costs Tk 3,000. Who will buy fish at this price, brother? Even small hilsa are beyond the reach of poor people."

Nasrin Begum said: "I thought prices would be lower at the last minute, so I came. But they are so high. I have children, so I bought one kilo of small hilsa at Tk 800."

Traders said prices were the same as before; fishermen had caught few fish all season, so prices were high.

Sheikh Abed Ali, president of the KB Bazar Fish Aratdars' Association, said: "Much less fish has come in this time than usual. Many trawler owners will make a loss. When supply is low, it is natural that prices will be high."

A fisherman named Ibrahim Haji said: "The sea was very rough these past few days because of the low pressure, and not many fish came up in the nets. We've been catching very little all this year."

The district fisheries department says it has made every preparation to enforce the ban. Meetings, seminars and loudspeaker announcements have already been held to make fishermen and local people aware. The Coast Guard, Forest Department, RAB, river police and Department of Fisheries will step up patrols in rivers, at sea and in estuaries so that no one can catch fish during the ban.

Under the ban, fishing will be completely stopped at sea, in sea estuaries, in rivers and in river estuaries, and the preservation, storage, marketing and transport of hilsa will also be fully stopped. Anyone who violates the ban can face up to two years in prison and a fine of up to Tk 5 lakh. The ban will stay in force until 25 October, said Raj Kumar Raj, acting district fisheries officer of Bagerhat.

"This is the main breeding season of hilsa. If we can make use of this time, hilsa production will rise. We are doing our utmost for that," he said.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.