The price of hilsa fish has come down due to better supply and production with the fish being caught in abundance, and the prices good.
Storages as well as seasonal retailers have started widespread selling of Hilsa, known in this part of the world as the king of fish.
Common people are happy over hilsa fish price and availability at kitchen markets and even at roadsides across the country. They are buying hilsa fish at wholesale price from storages and fish markets.
Moving around some raw markets in the capital on Tuesday, the Bangladesh Post correspondent found that prices of hilsa have come down due to better supply and production.
According to traders, fishermen are catching a lot of hilsa fish in the rivers and in the sea. So the supply is high. Hilsa fish is now available at a much lower price than at any other time.
According to a search in different markets of the capital, hilsa fish weighing one kg is being sold at a price of Tk 850 to 900. Hilsa weighing 750 to 800 grams is being sold at 600 to 750 taka per kg. And hilsa weighing 500 grams is being sold at 400 to 450 taka.
On Tuesday, buyers were found happy not only in the markets, but also with hilsa being sold even in vans in the alleyways of Dhaka at low prices.
Small fish traders are waiting in the alleyways for the buyers with baskets of hilsa. They said that the sales were going well even though buyers were less. Abul Mia, a small trader who sells hilsa fish at Kathalbagan Bazar in the capital, told Bangladesh Post, “hilsa is being caught a lot this year. The price of hilsa is also good. So I am selling hilsa.”
He said it had been raining since morning, the buyers were less. but the sales were good. However, in the current year, the production of hilsa in the country is likely to be 5 lakh tonnes. 5 lakh 33 thousand tonnes of hilsa was produced in the last year. The deadline for catching Jhatka from the country's rivers was April 30.
Hilsa production has increased more than two and a half times in a decade and a half.
The chief scientific officer of Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute (BFRI) of Chandpur, Dr Anisur Rahman, who is also a renowned hilsa researcher of the country, said that the government is likely to increase the production of hilsa through various measures including ban on catching Jhatka, and stopping hilsa catching during breeding season.
He said, “This time the fish is delicious and large size fish is being extracted more. Fishermen are also getting better prices. There is a lot of demand in the market also.”