Hilsa supply at the Chandpur fish landing centre has fallen for a week, and prices have risen by Tk 500 to Tk 800 a kg. With river water falling in winter, fishermen are not getting the hilsa they want in their nets.

The Chandpur hilsa ghat, usually buzzing with traders' calls, is now quiet. With less hilsa arriving, work for the ghat's labourers has dropped, and with prices up, there are fewer buyers.

Traders said that while more than 500 maunds of hilsa arrived last week, not even 50 maunds came in on Tuesday. Along with the price of hilsa from the sea and the southern region, the price of Chandpur hilsa is also very high.

Kamal Hossain, a hilsa trader at the Boro Station fish ghat, said hilsa prices have risen over the past week. It is not hilsa season now, so supply at the ghat is very low, which has pushed prices up a great deal. A hilsa weighing one kg now sells for Tk 2,600 to Tk 2,800, and hilsa of 600 to 800 grams sell for Tk 2,000 to Tk 2,200, he said.

Shabe Barat Sarkar, general secretary of the Chandpur Matsya Banik Samity, said it is now the hilsa off-season, when fishermen catch very few hilsa in their nets. Traders have very little hilsa, which is why prices are so high. "We bring to the ghat only as much hilsa as buyers demand," he said, adding that there is no chance of hilsa prices falling this season.

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