The price of hilsha fish in markets across the country has begun to rise in anticipation of the coming Bengali New year scheduled to be April 14. The profit-hungry traders, who hoard the fish round the year, sell those at four to five times the normal prices before Pahela Baishakh, dampening the festive mood of many. A couple of big hilsha now costs no less than Tk 8,000 to10,000. The state-run Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB), in a report said hilsha price has increased by 29.41 percent in the last one month. And the hilsha they are selling at exorbitant prices are not fresh, as the bulk of the supply comes from cold storages where the fish was preserved mainly in the peak catching season of July-September. Traders say that customers are buying hilsha early for Pahela Baishakh. The excess demand has caused prices to increase by the day. Many of the traders are even selling jatka (hilsa fry) at kitchen markets, said the sources. The ongoing ban on catching all kinds of fishes in the hilsha sanctuary by the government to allow proper production of hilsha fry is also behind the rise in hilsha price. Masud Ara Momi, project director for jatka in Fisheries Department told Daily Industry that if anyone sells jatka fish they will take legal steps against him. Besides, she admitted that despite government ban some fishermen are catching jatka and a few traders are selling jatka (fish less tahn 10 inches long) instead of big size ones in the local market to meet the demand, she added. The storehouse keepers raised the price as the demand has risen. As a result we have been forced to raise the prices, said retailers while talking to Daily Industry yesterday at capital’s Mohammadpur Krishi market. Retailers said, the more Pahela Baishakh will get closer the more hilsha will be overpriced, they said. Besides, due to this abnormal price hike, many have abandoned their hopes to buy hilsha this time, according to some customers. Contacted, Prof Anu Muhammad of Jahangirnagar University told Daily Industry that having panta-ilish on Pahela Baishakh is nothing but a luxury of the middle and higher-middle income groups though it has no root in the old tradition of celebrating the Bangla New Year. I think those who take panta-ilish in a festive mood on the Pahela Baishakh are just making a mockery with our original culture. Alongside campaign against such concocted’ culture, he said traditional Pahela Baishakh programmes like Baishakhi fair, magic and circus-shows, and musical events can be popularised to discourage people from indulging in having panta-ilish to mark the day. Prof M A Majid of Dhaka University said a section of businessman is making windfall profit on the occasion of Pahela Baishakh by raising hilsha prices due to its huge demand in urban areas. Mamun Hossain, a banker in the capital, said despite the ongoing ban on catching hilsha, a huge quantity of jatka is being caught just for Pahela Baishakh. Jhuma Akter, a housewife from city’s Gulshan area said traditionally we eat hilsha on the Pahela Baishakh celebrations. But over the last two years hilsha is rare during the Bangla New Year celebration. So naturally, I am confused whether hilsha will be available or not to me. If not, Pahela Baishakh will be celebrated without hilsha fish. And while Dhaka is in celebration mode, the lack of this delicious fish variety will definitely dampen the spirits of Bengali foodies said some people. According to the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, Ilish contributes one percent to the total gross domestic production and 11 percent to the total fish production of the country. As per international research organisation -World Fish, Bangladesh is the leading country in Ilish production with 65 percent, while India’s contribution is 10-15 percent and Myanmar’s is 8-10 percent.