CONRAD DIAS
Ranchi, July 19: The insufficient supply of fish during the monsoon has pushed up prices of many varieties across the city. Hilsa, one of the seasonal fishes, has been selling at nearly Rs 1,800 to 2,000 per Kg at Lalpur Market near Disleri Bridge for the last few days.
Bhetki, another seasonal Asian sea fish, has been selling at Rs 700-800 a kg at Lalpur market and Doranda Bazaar. Pomfret, another variety which is in high demand throughout the year, is currently being sold at Rs 600-700 per kg.
Fish-sellers said the reason behind the spike is due to a mismatch between demand and supply. Fish prices spike every year at this time. They added that at the beginning of the monsoon, Hilsa is not abundant and other fishes mostly come from cold storage. The cost of keeping fish in cold storage results in a spike in retail prices.
Notably this year, Hilsa has become available in the market recently and it is still not abundant in supply, a reason why the price hike, said one of the fish sellers from Lalpur Bazaar. Pomfret is also very less because fishermen focus more on catching hilsa than pomfret at this time of the year.
Despite the high prices of these fishes, many fish lovers and restaurants tend to buy them as it is an authentic dish for the Bengali community and due to this there are quite a lot of buyers in the Lalpur area which has a high population of Bengalis.
Manik Sen, one of the residents of Lalpur and a foodie said that high price of Hilsa hardly affect him from buying the fish and he likes to try various recipes of it.
Hilsa was found in abundance along the Bay of Bengal’s waters until a few years ago. Due to overconsumption and an increase in demands, the population of the seasonal fish has reduced significantly. The increase in demand for the Hilsa is one of the main reasons for the price rise.
