A 22-day ban on catching all fish, including hilsa, in the sea and rivers began at 12 midnight. The government has banned catching, transporting and stockpiling hilsa for these 22 days, so on the last day various markets in Kalapara, Patuakhali, were busy selling hilsa.

Right after dark, hilsa were sold with loudspeaker announcements at fish markets and key spots in the upazila, including Mohipur, Alipur, Kuakata, Chapli, Bablatala and Dhulasar. The markets rang with the calls of buyers and sellers, who said prices had fallen slightly from before.

In these markets, one-kg hilsa were selling for Tk 1,500 to Tk 1,600, 800-gram hilsa for Tk 1,200 to Tk 1,400, 600-gram hilsa for Tk 800 to Tk 1,000, and small hilsa for Tk 350 to Tk 400 a kg.

The fisheries department said the hilsa sold in these southern markets were those fishers brought from the deep sea to the Mohipur and Alipur BFDC markets on Friday and Saturday.

Shafiq Mia, who came to buy hilsa at the Kalapara fish market, said there was plenty of fish in the market, but prices had not come down very much. He bought three kg of small hilsa at Tk 350 a kg.

Another buyer, Sohaib Mia, said he bought two one-kg hilsa at Tk 1,600 a kg.

Mintu, a seller at the Kalapara fish market, said: "We bought fish from Mohipur and brought them here. We bought at a high price but now have to sell for less. Despite plenty of supply, prices at Mohipur in the morning were not this low."

Joynal Gharami, an arotdar at Kuakata Mayor Bazar, said: "Every year so much hilsa comes in on this night that buyers get it for next to nothing, but now, with fewer fish, prices are still beyond many people's reach. The fish we used to get from one fisher, now even 10 fishers do not bring in."

Kalapara senior upazila fisheries officer Apu Saha said most fishing trawlers had returned from the deep sea to Mohipur and Alipur over the past two days, and there was a plentiful supply of hilsa and other sea fish. But exactly how much hilsa had come in over the two days could not yet be confirmed, he said.

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