A little more than 100 tonnes of hilsa have reached Calcutta from Bangladesh in the last fortnight, hilsa importers said. Last year, more than 570 tonnes of hilsa were imported from Bangladesh, they said.
The first consignment arrived in Bengal on September 1. The import period will end on October 5. As a result, this year’s import volume is expected to be less than that of the previous year.
“The hilsa yield in Bangladesh is lower than last year, and that has impacted the cost of the imported fish. The high price of Bangladesh hilsa in the wholesale and retail markets has not found many takers this time,” said Syed Anwar Maqsood, secretary, Fish Importers’ Association in Calcutta.
“Last year, over 570 tonnes of hilsa reached Calcutta. This time, it is around one-fifth because the yield is low and the prices are higher,” he said.
In early September, the Bangladesh commerce ministry approved the export of 1,200 tonnes of Padma hilsa to India on the occasion of Durga Puja. The amount was exactly half of last year’s 2,420-tonne export order.
Each year, a specific timeframe is allocated for the import of hilsa from Bangladesh, generally spanning approximately one month. This year, hilsa import was allowed between September 16 and October 5.
According to reports, hilsa production in Bangladesh was lowest in seven years in the 2023-24 season.
The media reports in Bangladesh have stated that experts in the country attribute the decline to erratic weather conditions, overfishing, navigability problems, and the increasing impacts of climate change.
The decline in yield, together with an increase in the export price of hilsa from $10 to $12.50 per kilogram, caused the wholesale markets of Calcutta to price the silver fish from the rivers of Bangladesh at roughly ₹2,000 per kilogram for those weighing a little more than a kilogram.
Importers said if a fish trader imported around 10 tonnes this year, only about two tonnes of imported hilsa would find takers from retail fish sellers.
Last year, the wholesale price ranged between ₹1,400 and ₹1,500 per kilogram of the imported variety, and as a result, retailers were keen to pick up the fish from the wholesale markets, they added.
“This year, only 5 per cent of hilsa lovers are ready to shell out ₹2,300-₹2,400 a kilo of imported hilsa weighing over a kilo. The rest aren’t ready to spend such a hefty amount for hilsa from Bangladesh,” said Tapan Das, a fish seller at the Maniktala fish market.
“The first day would usually see a steep price for the imported variety, and gradually the price would peter out. But this year, it has remained consistently high. On Thursday, a hilsa from Bangladesh weighing around 800 grams sold for ₹1,800 a kilo,” said Das
Fish traders across Calcutta markets, including those in Gariahat and Lake, said they expect demand for hilsa to rise beginning this weekend due to Lakshmi Puja on October 6.