A hilsa weighing 2 kg 400 g has been priced at Tk 14,500 at Barguna municipal fish market, where it is being offered at Tk 6,000 a kg. The fish was caught in fishermen's nets in the Bishkhali, Barguna's local river.

Around 9:30pm on Sunday (9 March), a fisherman brought the fish to the market in Barguna town to sell, and wholesaler Mizan put it up for auction. Of the traders who took part, Md Nantu Molla paid the highest price and bought it.

The hilsa was caught in a local fisherman's net in the Bishkhali near the Mollarhora area of Dalbhanga village in Sadar upazila. When it was brought to the market that night, fish trader Mizan auctioned it, and Md Nantu Molla, one of the wholesalers present, bought it at Tk 4,600 a kg. He then asked buyers Tk 6,000 a kg, Tk 14,500 in all.

Bishkhali hilsa are famous for their taste and flavour, and because of its large size ordinary shoppers crowded round to see the fish. But because of the high price it had not yet been sold.

A shopper named Saiful told Jagonews: "I came to buy the fish after seeing a Facebook post, but they're asking a lot. I've never seen such a big hilsa in my life. I couldn't buy it, but seeing it was a treat. The hilsa is fresh, and it looks like a fish from our Bishkhali river."

Fish trader Md Nantu Molla told Jagonews: "Bishkhali hilsa are in high demand. I bought the fish hoping to sell it at a good price. Buyers aren't even offering what I paid, so I haven't sold it. But I hope it will be sold before Monday noon. Such a big fish rarely comes to Barguna market."

Humayun Kabir Liton, general secretary of the Barguna Fish Market Cooperative Society, told Jagonews that fishermen brought the 2 kg 400 g hilsa, caught in the Bishkhali, to the market at night. Fish wholesaler Mizan then auctioned it in front of the traders, and Md Nantu Molla bought it to resell.

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