Crowds of buyers came to the Boro Station fish landing in Chandpur to buy hilsa on the weekly holiday. With buyers arriving from different parts of the country, the whole landing rang with the calls of buyers and sellers at the wholesale stalls.

The scene was seen at various wholesale stalls at the Boro Station landing from the morning of Friday, 14 August.

Some came with their families, others in groups, to buy their favourite hilsa. But traders said prices are high because supply is relatively low.

Hilsa trader Kamal Hossain said hilsa weighing 1 kg are selling at Tk 2,800 to 3,000, and those below 1 kg at Tk 2,000 to 2,500. Compared with a few days earlier, the price rose by about Tk 100 to 150 a kg that day.

Buyers who came from different areas said they had come with their families on the holiday, but many could not buy as much as they wanted because of the high prices. Cheaper hilsa would make it easier for buyers, they said.

Parvez, who came from Dhaka, said Chandpur hilsa has a different taste that cannot be found buying in Dhaka. The landing was crowded because it was Friday, and with so many buyers the traders had raised prices. "I only ever see hilsa prices go up, never down. If prices are not brought under control, hilsa will be beyond our reach," he said.

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