A tug of war between the craving for the flavourful Padma hilsa and its strain on the pocket is set to play out in Bengali households this Durga Puja as importers fear a shortage in supply from Bangladesh that would lead to a rise in prices.
Members of the Fish Importers’ Association in Bengal claimed that despite reports of the Mohammed Yunus-led interim government allowing the export of 3,000 tonnes of hilsa as part of the traditional Puja gift to Indian Bengalis, the actual supply might not be adequate because the hilsa catch has already witnessed a sharp 30 per cent decline this season.
“We are waiting for the official notification from Bangladesh. Verbally, we have been assured of permission to import 3,000 tonnes of the delicious Padma hilsa. However, we are not sure how much hilsa we will actually receive this year as our experience last year was bitter,” said Atul Chandra Das, president of the association that had last month urged Bangladesh to export 3,000 tonnes of the fish.
Although the Bangladesh government had purportedly refused to send any hilsa consignment to India after the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina last year, it eventually allowed the export of 2,400 tonnes of the fish ahead of Puja.
“Despite having permission to import 2,400 tonnes of hilsa, we finally received only around 550-600 tonnes. This year, the production of Bengal’s favourite fish is very low. So, we cannot expect the supply flow to improve unless there is an unexpected huge catch within the next couple of weeks,” Das added.
The Daily Star, an English newspaper in Bangladesh, recently reported a 30 per cent decline in the hilsa catch. According to the report, in Barishal division — the country’s largest hilsa hub — the catch fell to 14,496 tonnes in June from 21,817 tonnes in the same period last year.
“In July, the division produced 10,876 tonnes against 15,470 last year, around 30 per cent less,” the report said.
Multiple fish traders in Calcutta said if imports fell short, the price of a good-sized hilsa from the Padma could skyrocket. Last year, a fish weighing 1.1-1.3kg was sold for ₹1,600-2,000.
“If imports are lower than last year, the price of the Padma hilsa of a similar size will not be less than ₹2,500,” a fish trader said.
In Bengal, too — particularly in South 24-Parganas and East Midnapore — the hilsa catch has been significantly low this time.
Fishermen’s associations claimed that the catch of good-sized hilsas had dropped by 35-40 per cent fromlast year.
“Now we are mostly getting small-sized hilsas. The catch of good-sized fish has not been satisfactory this year — it is around 35-40 per cent less than last year’s catch,” said Satinath Patra, secretary of the Sundarbans Samudrik Matshyajibi Shramik Union.
“If you visit markets in Calcutta, you can see that hilsa prices have risen by about 30 per cent compared to last year,” he added.
Besides Bangladesh, Bengal procures around 3,000 tonnes of hilsa from Myanmar annually. This time, a good supply, of around 4,500 tonnes, came from Gujarat’s Bharuch and helped meet the regular hilsa demand in Bengal.
A section of traders is also worried about the deterioration in diplomatic ties between Bangladesh and India impacting the supply.
Recently, Bangladesh accused the Narendra Modi government of fanning the activities of the Awami League, which had been banned in Bangladesh. Although India’s foreign ministry dismissed the allegation, the recent visit of Pakistan’s deputy Prime Minister and foreign minister Ishaq Dar to Bangladesh had raised eyebrows amongIndian diplomats.
“We are not sure whether the supply of the Padma hilsa will be affected by these diplomatic issues,” saidan importer.
The gesture of exporting a significant quantity of the Padma hilsa during Puja was introduced by Hasina.
A source said that even in 2023, the last Puja season under Hasina before her ouster, the Bangladesh commerce ministry had allowed 79 fish exporters to send 3,950 tonnes of hilsa to India as aspecial gesture.