Staff Correspondent:

Hilsa fish prices have reached a record high this rainy season, making it unaffordable for low-and middle-income families.

Even though supply of the fish has increased a bit in the recent weeks, its prices are still high, ranging from Tk 1,500 to Tk 3,200 a kg depending on the size.

Traders and market experts said the prices are soaring mainly due to low supply, rising fishing cost, and high demand.

Some city markets and found that a 500-gramme river hilsa from Chandpur now sells at a minimum price of Tk 1,500 a kg. Medium-sized (around 750 gm) hilsa costs nearly Tk 2,000 a kg, and hilsa over 1.0 kg is selling for Tk 2,800-3,200 a kg.

According to the Department of Agricultural Marketing, hilsa prices are now 35-40 per cent higher than the same time last year.

Traders said the hilsa season has just begun, and fish collection has increased slightly.

Md Arefin, a fish seller at Rayer Bazar in Dhaka, said hilsa prices have been high for the past one year. Prices fell a bit in September-October last year; but since then, these have been more than Tk 1,500 a kg.

Hilsa supply in the Chandpur wholesale market has improved slightly, but not enough, he added.

Md Shabe Barat, secretary of Chandpur Fish Traders’ Cooperative, said hilsa prices started rising sharply from 2022 after the government had increased diesel prices by over 50 per cent.

This year, fish supply is low, which is also pushing prices up. After a two-month fishing ban, sea hilsa is now coming to the market, which may help reduce prices in the next two weeks.

He also noted that hilsa catch usually increases from mid-August and continues until November.

When asked about the low catch, Dr Rabiul Awal Hossain, Chief Principal Officer of the Bangladesh Fish Research Institute, said hilsa’s breeding cycle has changed over the past two decades.

Earlier, the main catching season was from June to August. Now, it is mostly from September to November.

He said the government has taken many efforts to increase hilsa production and preserve the fish, but these have stopped the fish supply during certain months.

S M Nazer Hossain, Vice President of the Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB), said both the low- and middle-income people are thinking twice before buying hilsa. It has become a fish that only the rich people can now afford, which is unfair.

The government has spent a lot of money on hilsa conservation, but poor people are not getting any benefit.

He urged the government to set fair prices for hilsa, so that people can afford to eat the national fish.

According to the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, Bangladesh produces about 0.5 million tonnes of hilsa each year, which is 11 per cent of the country’s total fish production.