Fish prices soar despite adequate supply

Prices of different fishes increased by Tk20-100 per kilogram over the past week despite sufficient supply in kitchen markets in Dhaka.

Visiting kitchen markets at Rampura, Malibagh, Moghbazar, Madhubagh, Karwanbazar and Shukrabad, Dhaka Tribune found that prices of most fishes increased by Tk20-50 while in some cases the prices went up by Tk100.

Ilish was not found in any of the markets yesterday as the government imposed a 22-day ban on its netting, selling and distributing effective from October 9.

Among the most sought-after fishes was Rui, whose farm-raised version was selling at Tk250-450 per kg in retail markets and at Tk200-430 in wholesale markets, all weighing 1-5kg.

Local Rui was retailing at Tk700-1,000 per kg while it was Tk500-800 per kg in wholesale markets.

Local catfish (Magur) retailed at Tk550-600 per kg while in wholesale markets it was Tk500 per kg.

Farm-raised Koi sold at Tk200-250 per kg in retail markets, which was Tk180-220 a week ago. Its wholesale rate was Tk100-150 yesterday.

The price of Pabda remained unchanged at what it was last week, selling at Tk400-450 per kg, while Boal sold at Tk400-450 per kg,  Haor at Tk500 per kg, Batashi Tk600 per kg, and tiger shrimp at Tk700-750 per kg, which was Tk600-650 even a week ago.

Md Alamin, a fish trader at Rampura Bazar fish market, said the demand for fishes increased after the government imposed a 22-day ban on Ilish. 

He added that many people had Ilish and other fishes in their stock, but when the stocks would run out, the prices would further rise.

Nazmul Hasan, a buyer, complained that the price hike affected him, but he was still hopeful that there would be adequate supply of fish in the coming weeks.

Morshed Ali, a wholesale fish trader at Karwanbazar, admitted a slight price hike and said he made a marginal profit of Tk7-12 per kg.

He also warned about further hikes in the coming weeks.

Mashiur Rahman, another wholesaler, said thanks to sufficient fish production, fish prices fish still remained stable. However, some traders are hoarding fish and creating an artificial crisis, leading to price hike.

He added that unscrupulous traders were manipulating the prices amid lack of monitoring.

The government imposed the ban on netting, selling and transporting Ilish in a 7,000km breeding ground to ensure safe spawning of the fish during its peak breeding period.

During the ban, each fisherman’s family will receive 30kg of rice from the government, under its VGF program.