Early in the morning, a different kind of bustle fills the dried fish market. There are shouts and calls; on one side an auction is under way, on the other sellers have laid out their wares. The smell of dried fish is everywhere, and there seem to be countless names and kinds of shutki.

This market on Terminal Road in Saidpur, the commercial town of Nilphamari in the north, is the hub of north Bengal's dried fish trade. Dried fish arrives from different parts of the country and from abroad, including India and Myanmar, and from here it goes to markets across north Bengal.

Trade happens in three stages. First, the market's traders auction dried fish sent by producers on the coast, and wholesalers buy it at auction and display it in their shops. Second, wholesale buyers from different towns buy it to sell in their own towns. Third, dried fish from the market is exported to various countries.

Source: Shykh Seraj, Hridoye Mati O Manush. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.