A syndicate is pushing up hilsa prices in Faridpur. As a result, hilsa cannot be had at the expected price even in the peak season, and with no effective action taken, buyers are being denied a fair price.

At the Haji Shariatullah fish market in the town, most retailers had hilsa of all sizes, but prices were as high as before, and buyers were angry.

Rezaul Karim, who had come to buy hilsa, said: "I heard hilsa is not going to India. Then why should the price be so high in hilsa season?" Buyers said that on reaching the market they found prices unchanged. "Our demand to the administration of the current government is that proper action be taken against the hilsa syndicate," they said.

At the town's Shariatullah market, Tepakhola market and Helipad fish market, 1-kg hilsa are selling for Tk 1,500 to Tk 1,700. Above a kilogram, the price is Tk 1,900 to Tk 2,200. Hilsa from Chattogram or Cox's Bazar is a little cheaper, and hilsa of the size that comes 4 to 5 to the kilogram sells for Tk 800 to Tk 900. Sellers in every market are selling hilsa at the same price, and the invisible control of a syndicate can be seen in the markets.

Fish trader Parimal Kumar Das said fewer hilsa are being caught in the sea and rivers, so market prices are a little higher and supply does not match demand.

Haran Sarkar, proprietor of Rupali Fish at Haji Shariatullah market, said that in the season an average of 100 to 150 maunds of hilsa arrive every day. Outside the season it is between 40 and 60 maunds, or a little more or less.

Wholesaler Manoj Roy said: "At the price we buy fish, bringing them to Faridpur costs Tk 30 to Tk 40 a kg. Then more than Tk 50 a kg has to be paid in market dues. Naturally, fish sell at retail for a little more than the price at which we sell to traders."

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