Prices of hilsa, dry fish up

FE Report
Prices of hilsa and dry fish shot up in the city kitchen markets as 'Pahlea Boishakh' festival  comes closer.
Price of potato also increased while vegetable and meat prices remained static maintaining higher prices on Friday.
'Panta Bhat' (rice soaked in water) with hilsa fry, potato, brinjal and dry fish 'Bhorta' (mash) has turned into a common dish for the Bangladeshi people in Pahela Boishakh for last one and half decades in the country.
Hilsa prices increased by 150 per cent in last two weeks and 40 per cent in last seven days, traders said.
A medium sized (700-800 gram) Hilsa sold at Tk800-850 per piece which was Tk600-650 a week back, big sized (900+ gram) sold at minimum Tk1200 on the day which was Tk950 a week back.
Small sized (below 450 gram) sold at Tk800-850 per kg---Tk220-250 hike in last seven days, Md Roman, a fish retailer at Nowabganj Bazar in the older part of the city said.
He said both the traders and customers are in a mood of storing.
Aratdars (big traders) are releasing fish in less volume to sell at higher prices few days later while customers are in a hurry to buy in good quantity to avoid fire like prices in the peak hours, he said.
However, many of the vendors were seen selling jatka (baby Hilsa), which is legally forbidden.
Bangladesh Fish Traders Association president Golam Mortaza Montu said demand for Hilsa increased more than twenty times during Pahela Boishakh than normal days.
He said supply of the fish is lower during March-April period as government imposed severe ban on fishing in major sanctuaries and their adjacent water bodies following the growing period of Hilsa.
 "Problem lies solely on people's attitude towards consuming Hilsa in Boishakh festival, the scenario was not the same 15-16 years back," he said.
He also pointed out that prices of Hilsa skyrocketed few days before Pahela Boishakh last year but it fell drastically on the night before the festival day due to lack of consumers.
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