On Monday 8 September 2025, with hilsa selling at record prices in Bangladesh, the government allowed 1,200 tonnes of the fish to be exported to India for the coming Durga Puja. The Ministry of Commerce issued the notification that day and set a minimum export price of $12.5 a kilogram. According to Jagonews24, a one-kilo hilsa was selling for Tk 2,500 in Dhaka's markets that day.
Conditions and deadline
The Business Standard and UNB reported that, as in earlier years, the export was conditional. Interested exporters were asked to submit hard-copy applications during office hours by 5pm on 11 September, with an updated trade licence, Export Registration Certificate, income tax and VAT certificates, a sales contract and a Department of Fisheries licence. Those who had applied before the notification were told to apply again.
Jagonews24 reported that exporters could not ship more than the approved amount, transfer their permits or subcontract the export to anyone other than an approved exporter, and that the government could stop the export at any time. At Tk 122 to the dollar, the report put the minimum export price at Tk 1,525 a kilo, a price at which a one-kilo hilsa could not be found in Dhaka.
A commerce ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Jagonews24 that the approved amount had been reduced because of high domestic prices and fears of a lower catch, and that the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock had agreed to the export. According to Jagonews24, for Durga Puja in 2024 the ministry first decided on 3,000 tonnes but finally allowed 2,420 tonnes, with permits going to 49 firms.
Prices in Dhaka and buyers' reactions
Jagonews24's market check on 8 September found sellers asking more than Tk 3,000 for hilsa over a kilo. At superstores, one-kilo fish cost roughly Tk 2,400 to Tk 2,800 a kilo. Hilsa of about 800 grams sold for Tk 1,800 a kilo and those of about 600 grams for Tk 1,400 to Tk 1,500. Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) data put that year's hilsa prices at Tk 900 to Tk 2,200, against Tk 800 to Tk 1,600 the year before.
"I haven't been able to eat hilsa yet this year. The market price is high. On top of that, the government has decided to export it to India. I thought prices would come down. Now there's no hope of eating it at all," Monir Hossain, a government employee, told Jagonews24 at Segunbagicha market.
S M Nazer Hossain, vice-president of the Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB), said: "If it is exported on top of this, traders will raise prices further. The government should have ensured availability for ordinary people." Hilsa expert Anisur Rahman said he thought it would have been better not to decide on exports at that time. According to CAB, the average price of 500 to 1,000-gram hilsa in the 2014 peak season was Tk 505.
Fears of a smaller catch
Citing Department of Fisheries data, Jagonews24 reported that the hilsa catch was 571,000 tonnes in 2022-23 and fell by 42,000 tonnes to 529,000 tonnes in 2023-24. Production had been 298,000 tonnes in 2008-09 and 517,000 tonnes in 2017-18. Figures for 2024-25 had not yet been compiled, but another fall was feared.
Anisur Rahman said the peak season runs from September to November, and that hilsa were declining because of changing weather, pollution, falling river navigability and a lack of food for fish in the rivers. Hilsa (Tenualosa ilisha) is Bangladesh's national fish; it migrates from the sea up the rivers to spawn. On 6 August 2017 it was recognised as a geographical indication (GI) product of Bangladesh.
Hilsa exports to India
The National Export Policy 2015-18, published on 6 September 2015, listed hilsa as exportable subject to conditions. The Business Standard reported that exports were suspended from 2012 to 2018 and that Indian traders seek about 5,000 tonnes of hilsa each year for Durga Puja. Jagonews24 said three consignments went to India after the first permission in 2019.
According to the National Board of Revenue (NBR), hilsa exports to India were 476 tonnes in 2019-20, 1,699 tonnes in 2020-21, 1,230 tonnes in 2021-22, 1,391 tonnes in 2022-23 and 802 tonnes in 2023-24.
Photo: DelwarHossain / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)
Sources: Jagonews24, The Business Standard, UNB, Wikipedia (Ilish)
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