Every year before Durga Puja, Padma hilsa reaches India from Bangladesh as a gift, and this year has been no exception. Some 50 tonnes of Bangladeshi hilsa have already entered West Bengal. This time, however, there is little excitement around the fish.

A tour of markets across West Bengal found that buyers there are purchasing more hilsa from Gujarat and Myanmar than from Bangladesh. The main reason, traders say, is the high price of the Bangladeshi fish.

Bangladeshi hilsa weighing more than a kilogram is selling wholesale for 2,000 to 2,500 rupees. Gujarat and Myanmar hilsa of the same size is available at less than half that, at 800 to 1,100 rupees. That is why Bengalis in West Bengal are buying less Bangladeshi hilsa ahead of the puja.

With prices high this year, retailers are also struggling to buy from the wholesale markets, and they cannot sell the fish to ordinary customers as they used to. Importers are therefore unsure whether to keep bringing hilsa from Bangladesh or to pause for now.

Wholesalers say retailers are not taking Bangladeshi hilsa as before. Where a retailer takes 15 to 25 kg of Bangladeshi hilsa, they take 70 to 80 kg from Gujarat or Myanmar. The Gujarat and Myanmar fish is much cheaper, but, the report says, no other country's hilsa compares with the taste of Bangladesh's.

Ramprasad Pal, a seller at the Agarpara retail fish market, said that although there is demand for Bangladeshi hilsa, Gujarat and Myanmar hilsa is selling more. If the supply of Bangladeshi hilsa rises, prices may fall, and once prices fall Bengalis will buy Bangladeshi hilsa again, he said.

Ramesh Das, a fish trader in Gariahat, said: "I have bought very little hilsa. I think Bangladeshi hilsa is very expensive, so people are buying more hilsa from Gujarat, Myanmar and Odisha."

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