First consignment of hilsa fish from Bangladesh reaches India, lowest since 2019
Bangladesh had recently approved the export of 1,200 tonnes of hilsa to India for the festive season, with the shipment window fixed between September 16 and October 5
Bangladesh has allowed around 1200 Metric Tonnes (MT) of Hilsa to be exported to West Bengal this year, the first consignment of which reached the state on Wednesday.Eight trucks carrying around 32 tonnes of the popular fish reached West Bengal.
Fish importers in Kolkata, however, said that this is the lowest quantity of Hilsa that Bangladesh has allowed to be exported to West Bengal since 2019. Importers also apprehend that even this small amount may not entirely reach West Bengal, as the window allotted for the trade by the Bangladesh authorities is too short – till October 5.
"This year the Bangladesh government has allowed only 1200 MT of Hilsa to be exported to India. This is the lowest quantity since 2019. On Wednesday, trucks carrying around 30 MT reached the Indo-Bangla border at Petrapole in North 24 Parganas. The fish will be available in the markets in and around Kolkata from Thursday," said Syed Anwar Maqsood, secretary of the Fish Importers in Kolkata.
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Hilsa is often tagged as the "Queen of Fish" for its taste and the Bangladeshi-hilsa found in the Padma River, is considered to be tastier than its Indian counterpart, which is found in the Hooghly River in West Bengal. Outside West Bengal, the Bangladeshi Hilsa is in great demand in Assam and Tripura
In 2019, the Bangladesh government allowed 500 MT to be exported. In 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 around 1850 MT, 4600 MT, 2900 MT and 3950 MT were allowed.
In 2024, the export number dropped to 2,420 MT.
"But even this amount of Hilsa would not be able to reach West Bengal as the time given for the trade is too short. The entire consignment of 1,200 tonnes has to be sent before October 5. This happens every year," said Maqsood.
While in 2024, even though Bangladesh allowed 2,420 MT to be exported, only around 577 MT of the fish ultimately reached West Bengal due to time constraint, traders said.
Fish traders said that as there was some uncertainty of Hilsa-import from Bangladesh this year due to the strained relations between the two neighbours, a record amount of the fish was procured from Gujarat this year.
"Every year, fish traders in Howrah and Kolkata procure around 500–700 MT of Hilsa from Gujarat. But this year, more than 4,000 MT of the fish have already arrived from Gujarat," said Maqsood.
The Hilsa catch in West Bengal has been declining over the years for multiple reasons. This year, however, the production has registered a rise with good monsoon rains.
"There are multiple factors behind the dwindling catch, including unbridled fishing, river pollution, erratic rainfall patterns, decreasing depth at the mouths of rivers due to siltation, and reduced river flush around this time of year, among others, joint secretary of the West Bengal United Fishermen Association Shyamsundar Das said.
