With hilsa expensive and in demand, chandana and surma are reportedly being sold in its place. They look similar enough that many buyers take them for hilsa, and once cooked in a restaurant the difference is even harder to see. At Chandpur's fish landing, hilsa has reached Tk 2,800 to 3,000 a kg this year, and it is that price that makes the fraud tempting.
Hilsa, Bangladesh's national fish, is Tenualosa ilisha. It lives mainly at sea and comes up the Padma, Meghna, Jamuna and other rivers to breed. It was recognised as a geographical indication (GI) product in 2017.
Chandana (Tenualosa toli), the toli shad, is a close relative but not hilsa. It lives along the coast, in estuaries and in tidal rivers, and is called 'chandana ilish' in Sylhet and the north and 'phuitta ilish' in Chattogram. It is silver, sometimes with a yellowish tinge, has a faint dark mark behind the gills and a small notch in the middle of the upper jaw, and is usually smaller than hilsa. To add to the confusion, a sea fish, Sardinella melanura (the blacktip sardinella, or 'kaltip takia'), is also sometimes called chandana ilish; its tail tip is black.
Surma (Scomberomorus commerson), the king mackerel, belongs to another family altogether and is also known locally as 'dora maitta' or 'champa'. It has a long, flattened body, a bluish-silver back and whitish belly, rows of dark vertical bars, and hard teeth with saw-like edges in its jaws.
Jatka are a source of confusion too: they are young hilsa, not a separate species, while chandana is a species of its own, so a small fish cannot be called chandana or jatka on size alone. Sardines, choukka, chokori, takia and other fish have also been sold as hilsa in the past.
When buying, choose a whole fish where possible and check its shape, colour and markings together rather than relying on any single feature. Ask about the fish before ordering hilsa in a restaurant, and be wary if the price is unusually low or the seller will not say what it is. Chandana and surma are fish in their own right, but selling them as hilsa cheats the buyer.
Photo: Mamun2a / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.5); hilsa
Source: RTV Online
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