There is no ban on fishing in the rivers or the sea, and markets have a good supply of various fish. Yet prices of river, sea and pond and gher fish are rising in Bhola's markets, and buyers are struggling.

At the Kitchen Market in Bhola municipal town, there was a good supply of everything from hilsa and coral to river, sea and farmed fish, but prices were high. River hilsa was selling at Tk 2,000 a kg, sea hilsa at Tk 1,700, coral at Tk 1,100 and river pangas at Tk 900 a kg. Pond and gher rui and katla were Tk 400-550, shrimp Tk 900-1,800, tilapia Tk 250-450, and farmed shing and koi Tk 700 a kg. Buyers were voicing anger at the prices.

Shafiqul Islam and Nazim Uddin, who came to buy fish, told Jago News: "We've come to buy hilsa, but hilsa prices are out of our reach. Jatka is a thousand taka a kg, and a one-kilogram hilsa costs more than two thousand. How are we supposed to buy hilsa?"

They added that because Bhola is surrounded by rivers, plenty of hilsa is found there, with more than about 30 per cent of the country's hilsa caught in Bhola. Yet hilsa prices in Bhola's market are rising, which ordinary buyers cannot accept.

Abdul Malek, a buyer who came to the Kitchen Market for rui and katla, said prices of pond and gher rui and katla were rising. Fish that sold for Tk 250 to Tk 400 before Eid now sells for Tk 320 to Tk 550, and prices have not come down even though Eid is over and there is plenty of fish in the market.

Buyer Arir Hossain said guests were coming to his house from Dhaka, so he had come to buy coral and large shrimp. But sellers were asking Tk 1,100-1,200 a kg for coral and Tk 1,800 for large shrimp, and he did not know what to do.

Hilsa sellers Md Mainuddin and Md Shamsuddin said demand was high but they could not bring in more fish, because when fish arrive at the landing most aratdars buy them to sell in Dhaka, Chandpur and Barishal.

Mosharef Hossain, who sells pond and gher fish, said pond and gher owners had raised prices a little because feed is expensive, so he has to sell at Tk 10-20 a kg more.

Md Mostafa Sohel, an official of the Department of Agricultural Marketing in Bhola, said he had learned that prices of all kinds of fish, including hilsa, were high in the market, and legal action would be taken if buyers lodged complaints.

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