Meghna Coastal Region Lakshmipur District. At one time, the ghats of four upazilas including Raipur were busy selling hilsa. In the peak season of hilsa in 2020, the price of 1 kg of hilsa was between Tk 500 and 550. But the same hilsa is being sold in the current bazaars for 1700 to 1800 taka.
Hilsa weighing half a kg is 300 taka and small size hilsa is 200 to 250 taka per kg. But the price of hilsa has increased more than three times in four years.
No hilsa fish of 300 taka or 400 taka per kg is available in the market anymore. The price of hilsa has started increasing since 2021. Because since then there is a famine of hilsa in Meghna. But that year it was slightly lower than the current price.
Again, around 2022, when the price of fuel oil increased, the price of hilsa rose another step. This is how the price of hilsa has increased year by year and has now reached its highest level. As a result, it has become difficult to taste this fish.
In 2020, a kilogram of hilsa fish weighing 800 grams was sold below Tk 500. In 2021, a kg of that fish was sold for a thousand rupees. Again, a kilogram of hilsa of the same weight is now not less than 1400 to 1500 taka. 500 grams of hilsa was available for 800 taka. It is not possible to buy that fish for less than 1200 rupees in the current market Medium-sized hilsa was available at Tk 500 per kg.
Jatka hilsa weighing 200 to 250 grams was within the means of the lower class or lower middle class. That jatka has now gone beyond the reach of ordinary buyers. No jatka is sold for less than 500 to 700 rupees. Even three years ago, jatka of the same weight was fetching between two and a half to three hundred rupees.
Fishermen, traders, buyers and sellers blame the increase in fish prices in rivers, fuel prices and the cost of fishing for the increase in the price of fish from one-and-a-half times to two-fold in a span of four years.
According to the market price in 2021, the price of one kilogram of hilsa fish was 1200 to 1300 taka. A kilogram of hilsa weighing five hundred grams was sold between 600 and 700 taka. And small size hilsa was sold between 400 and 500 taka.
Looking at the market price of hilsa a year ago in 2020, it can be seen that one kilogram of hilsa is sold between 500 and 550 taka. Half a kilogram of hilsa was sold at 300 taka and small size hilsa was sold at 200 – 250 taka per kg.
Jamal Hossain, the shopkeeper of Bara Machghat Chandar Canal in Raipur, said that Hilsa fish has decreased in the Meghna River for the past few years. Last four years ago I used to get hilsa in flocks. We would have made a lot of profit by selling at a lower price. But now it is not profitable to sell at higher prices.
In the same area, Md. Ayub Majhi said, we have to go fishing in the sea with fuel oil in the trawler. But the price of diesel has increased almost one and a half times. The price of accessories has also increased. And there are no fish in the river. Therefore, the price of hilsa in the market is also high due to the increase in the cost of fishing.
Siddique Haji, a trawler sailor, said that a lot of hilsa was available in the river and the sea. We would have made a profit by selling fish at a low price. Fisherman’s clothing. But now we spend lakhs of rupees and send trawlers to the river. I catch fish and sell it at the wharf. The cost of going to the river does not go up. We have losses instead of profits. Hilsa has to be sold at a higher price at the ghat.
Alamgir Hossain, the shopkeeper of the fish ghat in Hajimara Swissgate area, said that three or four years ago, a lot of fish used to come to the ghat. Two years ago, 1 kg of hilsa was sold in the wholesale market between Tk 700-800. The retail market was in the thousands of rupees. That hilsa is now more than 1500 taka. 1700-1800 is being sold in the market.
Abid Sayyal, a retail fish trader, said that the price of jatka was low even two years ago. Jatka was sold for 200 to 250 taka. Now there is no jatka below 600 rupees.
Salim Hossain, a buyer who came to buy hilsa fish at Altaf Master Fish Ghat said, I am coming to buy fish for home. But that price, can not afford to buy. Even three-four years ago, fish was not so expensive. Now there is no fish in the wharf, so the price is several times higher.
He said, I bought a Jatkar Hali from the ghat for 500 taka. I bought 10 hilsa weighing 500 grams for 6 thousand taka. The price of fish is going beyond the affordability of the buyers.
It is to be noted that a 22-day ban on fishing is going on in four upazilas of the district, including Raipur of the Meghna Coastal Region, to protect Ma Hilsa. This ban has started from 12 midnight last Saturday (12 October).
