Hilsa Shows up, Finally

Fishermen in Chandpur are now all smiles as hilsa has finally started to show up. In the last few weeks, the fishermen returned almost empty-handed from the Meghna and Padma being in the middle of a full hilsa catching season. On Saturday, a huge quantity of the delicious fish was seen at the wholesale markets of the district. They were selling (600-900 gm each) at Tk 30-35 thousand a maund in place of Tk 45-50 thousand, only a week ago. Local hilsa exporter Abdul Malek said he exported 1500 to 2000 cartons of fish at this time of the season last year. But this year he could send only 500 cartons so far to Kolkata in India due to a severe dearth of supply here. However, several local fish sellers alleged that huge quantities of the fish are being smuggled out to India. Owner of Sea Food Corporation Shahidur Rahman Chowdhury on a query said he was yet to start export this year because of the high price of the fish. “I will start export only when it comes down to Tk 10,000 a maund”, he said. Photo: STAR