A "king hilsa" weighing two kilograms has sold for Tk 9,300 in Bhola. It was bought by a wholesale fish trader named Momin Talukder, who supports Brazil at the football World Cup.

The fish was sold at around 6pm on Monday, 29 June, at the Ramnewaj fish ghat in Monpura union of Bhola's isolated Monpura upazila.

Momin Talukder told Jago News that the fish was caught around midday in the net of Ismail Majhi in the Meghna river next to Kalatali union of the upazila. Ismail Majhi and his fellow fishermen had been fishing from a trawler all day, and at around 6pm he brought the king hilsa to Momin's wholesale stall along with hilsa of various sizes.

The fish was auctioned at the Ramnewaj ghat in front of 17 or 18 wholesale traders who support Brazil and Argentina, and a few retail buyers. Traders who support Argentina kept raising the bids, but in the end Momin Talukder bought the fish with the highest bid of Tk 9,300.

The fish will be sent to New Market in Dhaka around midday on Tuesday, 30 June, with other hilsa of various sizes. Momin Talukder hopes to sell it for Tk 10,000 to Tk 10,500.

Bhola district fisheries officer Md Iqbal Hossain said: "The peak hilsa season has begun. Rainfall has also increased, so big hilsa are coming up from the sea into the rivers and getting caught in fishermen's nets."

Hilsa weighing from one and a half kilograms up to two kilograms or more are usually called "king hilsa" in the market. Being large, they have much more fat, which makes them very soft, tasty and fragrant when cooked.

Large hilsa are found mostly in the estuaries of the Padma, Meghna and Tentulia rivers. Demand for and prices of king hilsa from the deep waters of the Padma in particular are always sky-high.

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