Low price of Hilsa helps cut other fish prices

Low prices of Hilsa contributed largely to availability of other fishes at affordable rates last year, traders said.
The national fish Hilsa was within the reach of a small section of the people for the last few years due to its shortage in the domestic market following unplanned export and frequent smuggling.
Fixed income groups of people in the country started to consume the fish in recent times thanks to an export ban in July 31, 2012.
"Fish prices haven't increased in last one and a half years, rather decreased. Except in the festival days, prices of most of the fish remained static, showed no major hike," a Department of Agricultural Marketing (DAM) official said.
He said: "Lower prices of Hilsa helped cut other fish prices as the silver fish dominated the market with nearly 12-13 per cent of the total volume of fish in the market."
Farm economist ASM Golam Hafiz Kennedy said demand for Hilsa is on the rise compared to other fish varieties.
"If price of Hilsa is reduced with available supply, it will surely cause a reduction in other fish varieties" he said.
"If the prices of Najirshail or Brri-28 varieties of rice decrease, it would surely cause a decline in coarse rice prices," he added.
 "After rice, fish price is the most important factor both in rural and urban areas that influence the general consumer price index (CPI)," he added. Director of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) Md Abul Kalam Azad told the FE that measuring the CPI the bureau uses more than 400 food product categories.
He said contribution or influence of a particular food category in CPI is called as its 'weight' and total weight is counted as 100.
"Rice contributes the highest 24.10 per cent and fish second highest at 7.04 per cent in rural area out of the total weights while it is 13.31 per cent for rice and 6.85 per cent for fish in urban area," he said.   However, according to the BBS, food inflationary rate which was 7.72 per cent in the financial year (FY) 2011-12 was reduced to 5.22 per cent in FY'13 (Base year-2005-06).
However, prices of major fish varieties remained static in the last financial year and in the first four months (July-October) of the current financial year (FY'14), according to the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB).
The prices of fish increased slightly during the November-January periods of the current FY amid political chaos across the country that almost paralysed the transportation system. But it has started to reduce recently, traders said.
"Price of Rui, a local carp variety of fish hovered between Tk260-30 (big size) per kg in 2013 against Tk 280-450 per kg in 2012" Mohosin Ali Lebu, a fish retailer at Banalata Kitchen Market in Newmarket area said.
He said prices of Tilapia, Pangash, Koi (farm), Magur, Shing, Golsha, Tengra, Boail, Mirror carp, Big-head, Nilotica, Japanese Rui, Katla, Kachki had started to reduce significantly following a decline in Hilsa price.
Aminul Islam, joint secretary of Showarighat Fish Traders Association, a fish wholesale market in the old part of the city said: "Price of big sized Hilsa, weighing up to 900 gm was Tk 1000-1600 per piece at the wholesale market even in the middle of 2012 which is now Tk 350-500," he said.
"Medium sized Hilsa (between 500 and 700 gm) price is now Tk 120-220 per piece at the wholesale market which was Tk 600-800 in 2012," he said.        
Mr Islam informed that per kg Pangash (farm) price was Tk 95-100 at farmers' level in Mymensingh one and a half years back, which is now hovering between Tk 78-80 per kg.  
However, Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka Pankaj Saran last month urged the government to lift ban on Hilsa fish export in a meeting with the fisheries and livestock minister Muhammed Sayedul Hoque.
Days after Indian appeal to lift ban on Hilsa fish export the ministry of commerce (MoC) moved forward to make way for the Hilsa export immediately, according to the MoC sources.
Meanwhile, experts suggested continuation of the export ban on Hilsa for the interest of the consumers. Consumers association of Bangladesh (CAB) secretary Humayun Kabir Bhuiyan said: "When people are getting the protein rich item at fair price, so why the government is going to make it costlier?". The increase in Hilsa price will further fuel up inflation as it will also cause increase in prices of other fish varieties, he said.   
Prof Dr Golam Maula of the  Institute of Nutrition and Food Science, Dhaka University said at least 82 per cent of the country's total population suffer from serious protein deficiency owing to lack of meat and fish intakes.
He informed that Hilsa is rich in amino acids, minerals and lipids, especially with many other essential and poly-unsaturated fatty acids (PUFA).
Hilsa alone contains a number of nutrients which can be available from various food items that makes it unique, he added.
However, Department of Fisheries officials said export ban on Hilsa also helped increase overall production of Hilsa as it has reduced unhealthy competition of catching mother fish.
According to the department, Hilsa production has increased to 0.391 million tonnes in FY 2012-13 from 0.346 million tonnes in FY'12.