Hilsa glut in Chandpur brings down prices in southern dist

August 22, 2019 00:00:00

A buyer looking at a heap of Hilsa fish at Fishery Ghat in Chattogram city to buy the silver fish on Wednesday — Focus Bangla photo

CHANDPUR, Aug 21 (UNB): Machghat, the largest wholesale Hilsa market in the district, is flooded with the silver fish caught in Hatia, Sandwip, Dhalchar, Barguna, Nijhum Dwip, Charfesson, Pathorghata and Bhola.

Hilsa caught from Padma and Meghna rivers weighing about one kilogramme are being sold at Tk 900 while the fish of the same size from the sea fetched Tk 700.

Those weighing two to two-and-a-half kilograms are being sold at Tk 2,000-2,100 per kg in Chandpur markets.

Fish traders Nurul Islam and Mofiz Peda said at least 15 trucks and six to seven trawlers, each carrying 150 to 200 maunds of Hilsa, started arriving daily after Eid-ul-Azha, the second largest religious festival of Muslims.

There are about 250 wholesale traders and small businesses at Machghat who buy Hilsa from here and supply them to markets in Sylhet, Habiganj, Sreemangal, Kishoreganj, Jamalpur, Mymensingh and capital Dhaka.

Bharat Chandra and his brother Romesh from Tangail said they bought Hilsa at Tk 34,000 per maund (each fish weighing about 1.1kg).

The buoyant supply is good news for the labourers too. "We've to work from dawn till 10:00pm. We don't have time to talk," one of them told the news agency.

Apart from traders, the general people also thronged the Machghat to purchase Hilsa at low price.

Some traders said 30 per cent of the Hilsa coming to the market weigh between 500 and 700 grams. They are being sold at Tk 450 per kg.

Engineer Tosaddeque Hossain, working at Chandpur Power House, said he bought a Hilsa weighing two kilograms at Tk 2,100 per kg.

"I'll send it to my elderly mother in Dinajpur," he said with a complacent smile.

Deputy Commissioner of Chandpur A Sabur Mondol said the district was named 'City of Hilsa' but was later renamed 'Ilisher Bari' or the abode of Hilsa as per the suggestion of prominent painter Hashem Khan.

Good catch has brought smiles to both fishermen and traders in the southern district and other coastal districts in the country since the 65-day ban imposed by the government on fishing in Bay of Bengal was lifted on July 24.