"Brother, how much is the hilsa?" "This one (weighing one and a half kg) is one price, Tk 3,200 a kg. This one (1 kg) is Tk 2,800 a kg if you take it. The small ones (300–400 grams) are Tk 1,800 a kg."

At about 10am on Tuesday 5 August, Md Monirul Islam, a private-sector employee, asked a hilsa seller at Rampura market the price. Pointing to hilsa of different sizes, the trader quoted prices like this. Hearing them, Monirul Islam pulled a long face and walked off.

A little further on he asked another trader, who quoted much the same. He walked away from there too without buying. Rickshaw puller Md Sabur Mia, standing with his rickshaw beside the seller, said: "Now if you want to eat hilsa, you will have to lease out your land."

As he left disappointed, Monirul Islam told Jago News: "I have a son and a daughter. My son is in class two; my daughter has not started school yet. For several days they have been asking for khichuri with hilsa, so I came to the market to buy some. But the price of hilsa is abnormal now. It is not possible for us to buy and eat hilsa at this price."

He said: "Buying a 1-kg hilsa costs Tk 2,800. With the money for one kg of hilsa you can buy nearly four kg of beef. People like us will not get hilsa now; hilsa is for those who have plenty of money. We will just look at hilsa, hear the price and walk away."

Sabur Mia told Jago News he had been standing there with his rickshaw for about half an hour watching hilsa sales, and several people had walked off glumly in front of him after hearing the price. "People come and ask the price, but in half an hour I did not see anyone buy. As soon as they hear the price, they walk away. How will people buy hilsa at such a price? A kg of hilsa is Tk 2,800. I have never heard of hilsa being this expensive," he said.

Not only Monirul Islam or Sabur Mia: people of every class and profession are now pulling long faces at the price of hilsa. Traders also say hilsa is very expensive now, though every size is available in the market, from fish of 150–200 grams to nearly 2 kg.

Visits to various markets in the capital on Tuesday found hilsa of one and a half kg selling for Tk 3,200 to Tk 3,500 a kg, and 1-kg hilsa for Tk 2,600 to Tk 2,900 a kg. Fish of 400–500 grams were selling at Tk 2,000 to Tk 2,200 a kg, and small hilsa at Tk 1,400 to Tk 1,600. Some traders were selling large hilsa a little cheaper; several traders said these were sea hilsa.

At Rampura market, Tariqul Islam bought a hilsa of 1 kg 600 grams at Tk 2,600 a kg. As he was leaving, Alam, a trader selling hilsa a few yards away, called out to him: "What hilsa have you bought, brother? Is that hilsa the same as this one?" pointing to his own fish.

Tariqul told Jago News: "My family has been asking for hilsa for several days, so I bought one even though it is expensive. We cannot buy hilsa again and again, so I chose a big one. I bought it after going round several shops; others are asking Tk 3,200 a kg for this size."

He said: "I bought such a big hilsa, yet I feel uneasy, because two people looking at it said it is sea hilsa and will not taste good. Hearing that, I feel odd. After paying so much, I am wondering whether I have been cheated."

Trader Alam said a lot of "Chittagong hilsa" (sea hilsa) has come into the market, and some people buy it because it is cheaper. There is a big difference between river and sea hilsa, he said; sea hilsa does not have the taste of river hilsa.

Asked how to tell them apart, he said river hilsa looks beautiful: it shines a lot, its eyes are bright and its gills red. Sea hilsa is less bright, with black gills, cloudy eyes and a somewhat dark tinge along the back.

Jalal Hossain, a hilsa seller in Khilgaon, said: "Every size of hilsa is available now. It is the peak season, but with prices so high there are few buyers. We are selling one-and-a-half-kg hilsa at Tk 3,500 a kg and 1-kg hilsa at Tk 2,700. These are all Padma hilsa. Sea hilsa is cheaper: a 1-kg sea hilsa can be bought for Tk 1,800 to Tk 2,000."

Asked whether the price is normal, he said: "Certainly not. We are surprised at the price too. There is nothing we can do about it; we sell based on the price we buy at. Because prices are high, sales are low too. I sell hilsa every day, but I do not eat it at home. I will eat it when the price comes down."

Touhidul Islam, who came to buy hilsa in Malibagh, said: "After going round a few shops I bought two small hilsa at Tk 1,600 a kg. The two weighed about 600 grams. There is no way to buy a big one; that would cost over Tk 2,500. There is plenty of hilsa, small and large, in the market, so why is it so expensive? I request those responsible in government to look into this and see whether some group is manipulating prices."

Farida Akhter, adviser to the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, said recently that hilsa prices are currently high because of low supply along with extortion and high diesel prices, and that the Chief Adviser's Office is taking steps to bring prices down.

She said hilsa is still beyond the reach of ordinary people, with hilsa of under 1 kg still costing more than Tk 2,000 in Dhaka. "We hope prices will fall when supply in the market increases. But hilsa prices are comparatively lower in Barishal and Chattogram," she said.

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