Hilsa fishing ban, a scheme to allow breeding of hilsa, greatly benefitted fishermen as the restraint allowed huge quantities of juvenile hilsa to mature for consumption. Hilsa fish started appearing in abundant in most of the kitchen markets, as the fishermen are now able to supply massive quantities of hilsa from the estuaries of the Bay of Bengal after a 22-day fishing restriction.
Earlier, hilsa fish, which was selling between Tk 1500 and 1600 per kilogram, is now selling between Tk 1000 and 1100 in the capital’s different fish markets. As the price went down, the demand for other fish also declined. At many fish markets in the city, it was noticed that most customers opted to buy hilsa.
After visiting city’s five major kitchen markets, namely - Karwan Bazar, Rampura, Malibagh, Hajipara, and Khilgaon it seemed that most of the customers who visited fish markets preferred hilsa as it is available at relatively cheaper prices. Happy to be able to sell hilsa after the ban, fish retailers on Friday said that there is tremendous enthusiasm among many of the buyers who waited for the hilsa. Many buyers also happy to be able to purchase hilsa at cheaper rates expressed satisfaction saying that hilsa price should remain within the reach of the common people.
