Madaripur's one-night hilsa fair drew remarkable crowds of buyers, and hilsa worth about Tk 1 crore was bought and sold in just a few hours. The fair ran from the evening of Saturday (12 October) until midnight.

A festival of hilsa selling took place at the Puranbazar fish arot, the main commercial centre of Madaripur town, the wholesale fish arot at Mostafapur, Takerhat port in Rajoir upazila and other markets in the district. The fair was held because hilsa buying, selling and marketing would be closed for the next 22 days.

According to people involved, traders set up their stalls of hilsa at the Puranbazar fish arot from the evening, and buyers began arriving for fish of all sizes. Alongside men, the crowd of women was striking. Hilsa of about one kg sold for Tk 1,600 to Tk 2,000, fish smaller than one kg for Tk 1,200 to Tk 1,500, and fish over one kg for Tk 2,000 to Tk 2,800.

Buyer Delwar Hossain said prices at the fair were higher than last time. "Still, I bought five kg. My son loves hilsa, so I bought it," he said.

Puranbazar hilsa trader Sujan Barman said he had sold all the hilsa in his stock, because no hilsa could be bought or sold for the next 22 days.

Moslem Uddin, president of the Madaripur Puranbazar fish traders' association, said there is a rush of hilsa sales every year on the night before the ban, and this year was the same. Sales were very good, he said.

Madaripur district fisheries officer Md Hadiuzzaman said the main hilsa breeding season this year runs from 13 October to 3 November. So in Madaripur, as across the country, catching, transporting, storing, marketing, buying, selling and exchanging hilsa will be stopped. Legal action will be taken against anyone who does so, he said.

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