A week after hilsa fishing resumed, supply has increased at the Boro Station fish ghat in Chandpur. Traders and workers are busier, and the ghat is bustling again.

From morning until noon on 7 May, 400 maunds of hilsa arrived at the Chandpur fish ghat, though all of it was from the southern region.

Fishermen complain that their nets in the Padma and Meghna rivers near Chandpur are still not catching as much hilsa as they hoped. As a result, hilsa prices in Chandpur's markets are sky-high, and with prices not falling, many buyers are going home disappointed without buying.

Md Masud, who came from Cumilla Cantonment to buy hilsa, told Jagonews24: "The price is very high. I have been going round the whole wholesale market but can't find hilsa cheaper anywhere. If I find some within my budget I'll certainly buy."

Hilsa trader Kamal Hossain said some hilsa had reached the ghat after a week, but all of it was from outside. Chandpur's fishermen have not yet started catching much. When hilsa arrives from everywhere at once, prices will fall, he said.

Shobe Barat Sarkar, general secretary of the Chandpur Fish Traders' Association, said hilsa was coming from the south; one truck alone brought 42 maunds. Fish are brought here because demand and prices are good, and retail and wholesale traders buy from here. In today's market a one-kg hilsa is selling for Tk 2,800 to Tk 3,000, he said.

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