After a two-month ban, fishermen in Chandpur have gone back to the Padma and Meghna rivers to catch hilsa. They went out at midnight on Thursday (30 April) but did not find the hilsa they had hoped for, leaving them somewhat disappointed. Traders and workers at the Boro Station fish landing, however, are busy again.

On Friday morning (1 May), wholesale hilsa trading began at the Chandpur Boro Station fish landing, bringing activity back among fishermen, traders and workers. The landing rang with the shouts of buyers and sellers.

Fishermen Sheikh Farid and Yasin, who brought hilsa to the landing, said fishing had been shut for two months. When the ban ended the fishermen went out at midnight and waited hour after hour but did not catch much. They caught some fish, enough to cover costs. If they do not catch fish now, it will be hard to repay loans and instalments. But if there is more rain and the river rises, the chances of catching hilsa will improve, they said.

Hilsa traders Ochman Bepari and Nahid Hasan said that while fishing is banned on the river, all trading at the Boro Station landing also stops. Now trade has resumed after two months. Workers and traders had long been idle, and the landing has come alive again with fish arriving.

Fish traders said hilsa weighing one kilogram are now selling for Tk 3,000 to Tk 3,500, and those under one kilogram for Tk 2,500 to Tk 3,000. They hope the supply of hilsa from the river will gradually increase, trade will pick up and prices will come within reach of ordinary buyers.

Julhas, a buyer from Dhaka, said he had come to Chandpur on the holiday. Very few hilsa had reached the landing, and he had walked the whole landing without being able to buy because prices were so high. He planned to buy a few hilsa anyway, but said that at such asking prices hilsa could no longer be bought.

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