At the traditional Boro Station fish landing in Chandpur, known as the "capital of hilsa", it is not only hilsa that has become dearer this year but hilsa roe too. With supply far below demand, the price of hilsa roe has nearly doubled this season compared with last year.

At the Boro Station landing on Wednesday, 29 July, hilsa roe was selling for Tk 5,500 to Tk 6,000 a kg, well beyond the reach of ordinary buyers.

Traders at the landing said a kilogram of hilsa roe sold for Tk 2,500 to Tk 3,000 at the same time last year. This year far fewer roe-bearing hilsa are coming in, creating a shortage of roe, so the price has nearly doubled in a short time.

Traders say interest in hilsa roe is growing. Many buyers come to the Boro Station landing from different parts of the country just to buy it, but because supply does not match demand, prices remain high.

Fish trader Nahid Hossain told Jagonews: "In other years we got many more roe-bearing hilsa, but this year there are very few. We cannot supply as much roe as buyers want. Mainly because demand is high and supply is low, the price of roe has gone up along with hilsa."

Another trader, Nabir Hossain, said almost every trader at the landing used to have hilsa roe, but now, with fewer roe-bearing fish coming in, only two or three traders are selling it. Because of the shortage, a kilogram of roe is selling for Tk 5,000 to 6,000. If hilsa supply increases, the price of roe may come down somewhat, he said.

Parvez, who came to buy hilsa roe, told Jagonews: "Hearing the price, I lost interest in buying. They are asking almost double what I paid last year. Ordinary people cannot afford to buy hilsa roe at this price."

Shabe Barat Sarkar, general secretary of the Chandpur Matsya Banik Samabay Samiti (fish traders' cooperative), said no more than 20 to 25 kg of hilsa roe is available each day. The roe used to be supplied to various districts, but because the quantity is small, most of it is now sold at the landing itself. There is not even a third as much roe in the market as last year, he said.

"Buyers come to Chandpur from all over the country to buy hilsa roe, but we cannot get enough every day to meet demand. We hope that when hilsa supply rises, the shortage of roe will ease somewhat, and the price of roe, along with hilsa, will come down to a tolerable level," he said.

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