Sylhet Correspondent :
Fish are selling at exorbitantly high prices in the markets of Sylhet city and district, though production is higher than demand. The consumers have to buy fish at high prices as most of those produced locally go to different parts of the country, including the Sylhet city, from the district.
While visiting Shibgonj Kitchen Market, Lal Bazar, Kazir Bazar Kitchen Market, the correspondent saw fishes selling at high prices. However, some fishes are available in these markets and some are not at all. Prices of fishes that are available in the markets increased by Tk 20 to Tk30 per cent a kg on an average during the first week of Ramzan.
Ruhi were selling Tk 250 to Tk 350 a kg, Katla at Tk 250 to Tk 440 a kg, Vetki at Tk 600 to Tk 900 per ks, Parshe at Tk 350 to Tk 600 per kg, Telapia at Tk 140 to Tk 175 a kg and big sized Pangash at Tk 150 to Tk 200 a kg, Tengra fish at Tk 350 to Tk 420 per kg, country Puti at Tk 200 to Tk 350 per kg, Taki at Tk 240 to Tk 300 per kg and shrimp at Tk 350 to Tk 480 per kg. Hilsa fish was selling at Tk 400 to Tk 1000 per kg.
Members of the middle class families are quite unable to purchase these types of fishes, not to speak of the poor. Small fishes, including, Mola, Puti, Kagchi, Chela and small Tengra are also selling at high prices.
Any of these small fishes was selling for Tk 80 to Tk 120 per 250 grams.
Topon Kumar Ghosh of Shibbari in the city said that he had dropped some fish items from his family’s menu as the fish prices have already gone beyond his purchasing capacity.
Shiblu Ranjon, a fish vendor of Kazir Bazar in the city said that fish scarcity would be more acute in the district in future if re-excavation programme is not taken up soon at private or government level.
Syed Abul Boshor, a fish farmer of Dakshin Surma upazila, said, ‘It is mentionable that out of these uncultivated ponds, 70 per cent are under joint ownership due to inheritance and hence more cares and the ponds gradually got silted and dried up.’
If a comprehensive scheme is not taken up and approach of co-operative farming by the shareholders, a large number of these ponds will be left unused thus incurring heavy losses, he added.
District Fisheries Officer Sylhet told that, ‘The fish production of the district is playing a special role in the fish market of the country.’ In the past, there were many rivers, canals, beels, reservoirs and ponds in the district. The water bodies abounded with different varieties of fish in the bygone years. Most of them disappeared gradually due to silt accumulation in the water bodies for lack of dredging. Besides, most of the marshy lands have turned into paddy fields. As a result, breeding of fish is decreasing alarmingly. Moreover, a huge quantity of fish fry is being washed away by flood water every year, he said further
