TDS Desk:

A hilsa weighing nearly two and a half kilograms has been sold for Tk 14,000 in Daulatdia area in Rajbari.

A fish trader from the ferry terminal area bought the fish and later sold it to a Bangladeshi expatriate from Mymensingh.

According to the trader, the hilsa was caught in the net of a fisherman named Siddique Pramanik on Saturday morning in the estuary of the Padma and Jamuna rivers.

Shahjahan Sheikh, a fish trader from Ferry Terminal No. 5 in Daulatdia, said that upon hearing about the large hilsa caught in the morning, he contacted fisherman Siddique Halder. The fish weighed 2.49 kg.

In an auction, Shahjahan bought it at the rate of Tk 5,500 per kg, paying a total of Tk 13,700. Later, he got in touch with the expatriate from Mymensingh, selling the fish to him at Tk 5,800 per kg, totalling Tk 14,500.

Shahjahan Sheikh added, “That man from Mymensingh had already asked me to reserve a large hilsa for him. As soon as I bought the fish this morning, I informed him over the phone.”

“He then sent a relative to Paturia Ghat in Manikganj, and we delivered the fish to him. Only one or two such large hilsa have been found there this season,” he added.

Speaking about larger hilsa, Rajbari District Fisheries Officer Nazmul Huda told journalist that hilsa catches have been good during the monsoon, as the Padma River is in full flow.

Larger hilsa are also caught occasionally, which is good news not only for the fishermen but also for the locals. However as the prices are too high, these fish are going out of the purchase ability of common people, he noted.