Just like the previous year, the government has decided to export hilsa fish to West Bengal, India as a gesture of goodwill ahead of Durga Puja celebrations there.
In the first phase, 20 tonnes of hilsa were sent last week. In total 1,450 tonnes of hilsa are will be exported to West Bengal for Durga Puja this year.
A total of 9 local fish exporters have been given permission to export fish to West Bengal. The size of each hilsa will range between 1 kg to 1.2 kg at a price of 800 taka per kg.
Commerce Secretary Dr Zafar Uddin told The Business Post, “Hilsa export has been stopped since 2012, therefore special approval was needed in this regard.”
“We have allowed 9 companies to export 1,450 tonnes of hilsa to West Bengal,” he confirmed.
He also said the fishes are a gift for upcoming Durga Puja for the people of West Bengal.
“Bangladesh has enough hilsa this year and there is no fear of hilsa crisis", he added.
On Thursday, commerce ministry issued a circular regarding the export of 1,450 tonnes of hilsa fish to India.
This year, 200 companies applied to the commerce ministry for the export and the government selected 9 out of them.
The 9 companies are United Venture Limited, Ripa Enterprise, Gazi Fresh Sea Food and Tiger Trading from Dhaka; Janata Fish, Jessore; Pacific Sea Food Limited, Chattogram; Mahema Enterprise, Barisal; Jahanabad Sea Food Limited, Khulna and Seven Star Fish Processing Company Limited, Pabna.
These companies are sending most of the hilsa by land, especially through Benapole land port. However, exporting companies can use any other land port.
Obaidul Azam, Additional Secretary (Exports) of the Ministry of Commerce, said Rupali Hilsa fish is being caught in fishermen's nets in different river basins of Bangladesh this year during the season of abundance of hilsa. Tonnes of hilsa are also being caught in the sea.
As a result, the price of hilsa in the Bangladeshi market will not be affected by this export, he said.
He said the exportable hilsa are sent directly from Chandpur to Benapole for export. The hilsa that will be exported to India is made sure to be hilsa from Padma river. The size of the fish will also be monitored.
Fisheries and Livestock Minister Rezaul Karim has said that more than 5 lakh tonnes of hilsa will be caught in Bangladesh this year. Fishermen of Bhola, Pirojpur, Barguna, Chandpur, Barisal and Patuakhali districts are now busy in catching hilsa.
He also said hilsa catch has been increasing over the last few years due to various surveillance, control and monitoring facilities provided by the government to the fishermen.
Besides, due to the coronavirus pandemic, this time through the river hilsa has also increased in size due to less movement of vessels.
Incidentally, on August 1, 2012, the government banned the export of all types of fish, including hilsa. However, later on September 23 of that year, all fish except hilsa were allowed to be exported.
Last year, the government allowed 500 tonnes of hilsa to be exported to India. This time, 1,450 tonnes of hilsa has been allowed to export.
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