Bangladesh has decided to send close to 2,500 tonnes of hilsa to West Bengal as a ‘Puja gift’. The consignment will start reaching Kolkata in phases from Tuesday.
The Bangladesh government has selected 49 fish exporters from different parts of the country to send the silvery delicacy to West Bengal.
Each exporter has been allowed to send around 50 tonnes of hilsa and a notification from Bangladesh’s ministry of commerce states the permission to complete the export of fish will remain valid till the end of this month.
In September 2021, Dhaka had agreed to send over 4,600 tonnes of hilsa to Bengal, the highest in recent times, but only 1,200 tonnes could be exported because of lack of time.
“We had written to the deputy high commissioner of Bangladesh in Kolkata in August seeking at least 45 days (from the start of export) to complete the export process of hilsa,” said Syed Anwar Maqsood of the Fish Importers Association.
“The volume of fish sanctioned for export from Bangladesh this year is lower compared with last year, but hopefully we will receive the entire amount in September.”
In April, Bangladesh export minister Tipu Munshi had met chief minister Mamata Banerjee during the Bengal Global Business Summit.
Later, Munshi had raised the issue of border trade with Mamata and even promised to visit the Benapole-Petrapole border to do away with glitches and expedite the process of goods clearance.
On Monday, several fish importers said this time they hoped the consignments of hilsa would not be held up at the border.
“If things work according to plan, hilsa from Bangladesh will be available across all major markets in a fortnight,” said Bistu Pada Ghosh, a fish trader.
Experts tracking the fish’s movement for decades said about 86 per cent of the global hilsa catch is in the Bangladesh waters. The fish travels upstream from the sea to breed.
“The water of the Meghna estuary in Bangladesh is ideal for hilsa to breed. The fish continues to move upstream to reach the Padma,” said Asim Kumar Nath, who has been studying the migration of hilsa at Sidho-Kanho-Birsha University.
In Bangladesh, there is a blanket ban on hilsa fishing between May 20 and July 23.
The West Bengal government’s ban is from April 15 to June 14. Scientists have blamed the duration of the ban in West Bengal for the netting of baby hilsa in Frasergunge, Namkhana, Diamond Harbour and Kakdwip in South 24-Parganas.
Baby hilsa haul further shrinks supply of adult fish in the latter half of the season.