A legal notice has been sent to the relevant authorities seeking a maximum price of Tk 700 a kilogram for hilsa in the country. The notice was sent by Supreme Court lawyer Khandaker Hasan Shahriar.

It was sent by post and email on 29 September to the secretary of the Ministry of Commerce, the secretary of the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, the director general of the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection, the chairman of the Bangladesh Competition Commission, the chairman of the National Board of Revenue and the chief controller of the Office of Imports and Exports.

The notice asks that within seven days the wholesale and retail hilsa markets be monitored and effective steps be taken to stop illegal smuggling across the border. It also calls for a formal proposal to India, recognising realities such as rising sea temperatures and climate change, for the hilsa fishing ban to be kept at the same or a similar time in both India and Bangladesh.

It further demands that any future hilsa exports to any country are not priced below the Bangladeshi market price. Otherwise, the notice says, a writ petition will be filed in the High Court.

The notice says hilsa, Bangladesh's national fish, is essentially a fish of the Bay of Bengal and is found in Bangladesh, India, Myanmar and other countries. India and Myanmar have much larger sea areas than Bangladesh and produce large amounts of hilsa, which is also found in various rivers in India. Although hilsa is a sea fish, when it comes into the Padma to spawn it feeds on the river's natural food, grows well and becomes naturally very tasty. Padma hilsa is the best in taste and aroma.

Because hilsa is a sea fish, it does not have to be farmed in ponds or elsewhere, so there is no production cost; it is 100 per cent naturally produced, the notice says.

In the notice the lawyer also says national media have reported that since 26 September hilsa has been exported to India through Benapole land port in Jashore at $10, or Tk 1,180, a kilogram. Bangladeshi consumers are paying at least Tk 900 a kg more than the price at which hilsa is being exported to India, he says, and the export price should be set above the domestic market price.

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