Desk Report : Popular fish hilsa has become dear in the district, due to its low catches and high demand for supply to other areas including Dhaka and Chittagong, a couple of days before Pahela Baishakh, the first day of Bangla New Year.

Visiting Parerhat fish landing station in Pirojpur Sadar upazila yesterday, this correspondent found that hilsa weighing 1.5 kg was selling for around Tk 2,000, one kg for Tk 1,600, 700-900 gram for Tk 1200, and 200-300 gram for Tk 450 to the wholesalers.

This year the supply of hilsa is less than last year's, said Md Nasir, a wholesaler at Parerhat.

After buying hilsa from Parerhat and other places in the district, wholesalers supply it to other areas of the country for getting more profit.

But the high prices at local markets discourage many of the common people to buy the fish.

�I cannot afford the pricey hilsa,� said Paritosh Mandal, a tarder in Pirojpur town.

Many people are not likely to be able to arrange curry with delicious hilsa on Pahela Baishakh.

As hilsa fishes' price is high, the fishermen try to catch fish whole day in the Kacha, Baleshwar, and Sandha rivers in the district and often small sized hilsa are get trapped into their nets.

�Despite trying day and night, we get only a few fishes from the river,� said Abdus Salam, a fisherman at Umedpur village in Zianagar upazila under the district.

Md Oliur Rahman, district fisheries officer in Pirojpur, however, claimed that the supply of hilsa fishes sees increase every year.

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�Although it is not proper time for getting hilsa, is found in the river now as steps were taken for saving the stock of the popular fish,� he said. the daily star