Blame the sky-high hilsa prices on the delayed monsoon, but the wait for the king of all fishes should be worthwhile.

Fisheries minister Kiranmoy Nanda on Monday predicted a good catch this year and held out the promise of prices being lower this time than last season.

“Currently, most of the hilsa being sold in the markets is coming from the Padma in Bangladesh. But a good catch of hilsa will soon be here if the current rain pattern prevails,” said Nanda.

Prevailing prices have, meanwhile, shot through the roof, with the Indian variety being around Rs 20 more than its Bangladeshi cousin.

Around four truckloads of the Padma hilsa are rolling into the city on a daily basis. “Hilsa is affected most by the weather. The dry spell that prevailed for a long time this year is bound to affect the fish,” said Ranjan Debnath, fish trader and joint secretary, Behala Natun Bazar.

Being a sea fish that comes into estuarine waters during breeding season, the fish needs a congenial habitat to attract it to estuaries. While the sweet-water Padma variety is considered tastier, the Kolaghat, Digha and Bakkhali hilsa are also prized delicacies.

“The sighting of the hilsa at different fishing points, like Frasergunj, Digha, Bakkhali, Diamond Harbour and Paradip, has been very positive,” said a spokesperson for the Howrah Fish Merchants Association.

“This means that the catch will be very good in the coming weeks. Now, Calcutta and Howrah fish traders are getting 10 tonnes of hilsa every day. This is expected to cross 100 tonnes within a month,” the spokesperson added.

“From mid-July, there will be no cause for complaint,” assured Tapan Haldar, a fish trader who supplies to the Siliguri, Raigunj and Balurghat areas of north Bengal.

The fisheries minister, meanwhile, rued how in their hunt for hilsa, Calcuttans were ignoring other fishes. “Merchants selling other fish are not being able to make a profit,” observed Nanda.

The minister went on to add that the fish were avoiding the Haldia coast because of oil and other effluents being discharged into the waters by small ships.

“Hilsa fishing will be restricted to a few months, when only grown fish will be netted,” said Nanda, blaming the netting of “khoka ilish” for a dearth of grown fish in the market.