Plenty of fish is reaching the markets of Mirsarai in Chattogram after the end of the 22-day fishing ban. Fishermen are happy to be back at sea after a long break, and buyers are flocking to the markets. But prices are high.

To protect safe breeding, a 22-day ban on catching hilsa in the sea and rivers began at midnight on 13 October. Catching, selling, marketing, storing and transporting hilsa were banned during that period. The ban was lifted at midnight on 3 November.

On the morning of 5 November the upazila's Bartakia fish market was loud with buyers and sellers. With the hilsa ban over, the crowd was bigger than on other days. Hilsa was in somewhat short supply, but many other species were on sale, at high prices.

Hilsa was selling for Tk 100-200 a kg more than the previous day. Large hilsa (over 1.5 kg) sold for Tk 1,700-1,800 a kg, fish of about 1 kg for Tk 1,300-1,400, and small hilsa for Tk 1,100 a kg. Poa fish sold for Tk 400 a kg, loitta for Tk 220, small prawns for Tk 600, large prawns for Tk 1,100, bata for Tk 500 and kolal for Tk 800.

Tilapia sold for Tk 200-210 a kg, rui of different sizes for Tk 250-350, small rui (nola) for Tk 190-200 and large pangas for Tk 180-200 a kg.

Shahdat Hossain, who came to buy fish, said there was plenty of fish but prices were high. Supply had been low during the ban, and a lot of fish had arrived now that it was lifted, so he had come to buy.

Another buyer, schoolteacher Humayun Morshed, said fish prices were very high. He had still come to the market and was going home with tilapia; hilsa was scarce, so he could not buy any.

Fish seller Tejendra Nath said he could not buy hilsa at the wholesale market after the 22-day ban, though other fish were plentiful, so he had brought other fish to the market. Most buyers had come for hilsa but there was little, he said. Hilsa supply would rise in a day or two, and prices would fall as supply increased.

Upazila senior fisheries officer Nasim Alam Mahmud said the 22-day ban on catching hilsa in the sea and rivers from midnight on 13 October was meant to protect the safe breeding of mother hilsa. It was lifted on 3 November, and hilsa and many other species have since reached the market.

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