After the end of the two-month fishing ban, fishermen are not getting the hilsa they hoped for. With supply low, trading has yet to pick up at the Boro Station ghat in Chandpur, and what little hilsa fishermen bring in fetches sky-high prices.

At this time last year, an average of 50 to 100 maunds of hilsa were traded every day at Chandpur's main fish wholesale market. This year only 10-15 maunds a day are arriving. Usually, when fishermen bring their catch to the Boro Station ghat, traders and labourers get busy, but this time the picture is different: with little fish, there is no bustle at the market.

Besides hilsa from the Padma and Meghna, hilsa from several southern districts used to be brought to the ghat by trawler and truck, but this year, with catches low, no hilsa from the south is arriving.

Fisherman Idris Sheikh, at the ghat, said all kinds of fish, including hilsa, are scarce in the river. "When the current and water in the river are low, hilsa don't come into the net. We've been casting nets since dawn and haven't even covered the fuel cost. If this goes on, our debt burden will grow."

Buyer Roni Dewan said: "There is very little hilsa, and the price is high too. It was the same last year. Many kinds of fish used to be available at this market. Nobody is thinking about where the fish are going. There is negligence of duty everywhere."

Hilsa trader Rubel Gazi at the Boro Station ghat said hilsa is very scarce this season, and what arrives is not enough to keep trade going. With little river hilsa, prices are high. Hilsa weighing one kilogram is selling for Tk 2,200 to 2,300, and smaller 500-700 gram fish for Tk 1,300 a kg. Prices may fall once the full hilsa season begins, he said.

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