Bangladesh is the world’s largest Hilsa producer, but it restricts the export of the fish due to high local demand.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Bangladesh’s interim government said it would export 3,000 tonnes of hilsa fish to India on Saturday (September 21, 2024), coinciding with the upcoming Durga Puja, revising its earlier decision.

Durga puja will be celebrated from October 9, 2024 to October 13, 2024.

The development comes days after the interim government, led by Professor Muhammad Yunus, earlier this month imposed a ban on hilsa export to India to meet domestic demand, discontinuing a long-standing tradition of Bangladesh as a “goodwill gesture” to its neighbour.

“Against the backdrop of appeals by the exporters, approval has been given to export 3,000 tonnes of hilsa fish (to India), fulfilling the specific conditions on the occasion of the upcoming Durga Puja,” the Commerce Ministry said in a statement.

The Ministry asked applicants to contact its relevant wing to obtain export permission.

The previous Awami League government led by deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had allowed Hilsa exports to India between September and October every year as a goodwill gesture, a tradition that had been nurtured for years.

Officials said Bangladesh in 2023 had allowed 79 companies to export a total of 4,000 tonnes to India, coinciding with the Durga Puja, the largest religious festival of Hindu Bengalis.

Bangladesh is the world’s largest Hilsa producer, but it restricts the export of the fish due to high local demand. However, during the Durga Puja festival, it usually relaxes the ban on the export of the fish, which is a much sought-after delicacy of Bengalis.

India’s Fish Importers Association earlier this month urged Bangladesh Foreign Affairs Adviser Touhid Hossain to allow the export of Hilsa to India during Durga Puja, amid uncertainty over the shipments of the fish this year following unrest and change of Government in the country.

The Association secretary Syed Anwar Maqsood, in a letter dated September 9, pointed out that while Bangladesh imposed a ban on Hilsa export in 2012, it has been allowing its export in a limited quantity from the first week of September until the end of the Durga Puja festival as a goodwill gesture for the last five years.

The number of fish imported from Bangladesh has grown from 500 MT in 2019 to 3,950 in 2023.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Weeks ahead of the Durga Puja, the Government of Bangladesh has allowed export of about 3,950 Metric Tonnes (MT) of Hilsa Fish to India.

Ministry of Commerce, Bagaladesh in an order issued on Wednesday said that 79 fish exporters from the country have been given permission to export 50 tonnes of the fish each to India. The permission for export is valid till October 30.

Making an exemption on its blanket ban of Hilsa Fish export, Bangladesh has been allowing Hilsa export every year since 2019, during the puja season. The number of fish exported has grown from 500 MT in 2019 to 3,950 in 2023.

The first shipment of the fish reached markets in Kolkata on Thursday evening, Syed Anwar Maqsood, the secretary of Fish Importers Association said.

Mr. Maqsood said that it was difficult to import such a large amount of fish in the usual 20-30 days and urged the Bangladesh High Commission to give at least 60 days time. “Despite the permission given for the export of 2,900 MT Hilsa fish in September last year, only 1,300 MT could be shipped due to the lack of time,” he said

Mr. Maqsood also pointed out that catching of Hilsa fish in Bangladesh will be prohibited for several days in the window provided for the export, which effectively gives the traders only 22 days to bring 3,950 MT of Hilsa to India.

Before 2012, when there were no restrictions on the import of Hilsa fish, about 5,000 MT of Hilsa fish was exported to India. The Fish Importers Association has been demanding that Bangladesh remove the restrictions on the export of Hilsa fish.

The Hilsa fish is considered a delicacy breed in the Gangetic Delta. The yield of the fish in West Bengal has fallen sharply over the past few decades from 80,000 tones in 2001 to 11,000 in 2021. Experts have blamed overfishing for the sharp decline.

Hilsa diplomacy

The decision of Bangladesh to send fish to India ahead of the festive season over the past few years is considered a part of diplomacy as the neighbouring country has been a part of the Teesta water sharing treaty with India. 

Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina in September 2022 during a diplomatic reception in Delhi had said that, “You [India] aren’t giving us enough water, so I can’t give you Hilsa fish right now”. The Prime Minister, however, promised that she will be able to supply Hilsa by the upcoming Puja season.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has publicly expressed reservations against sharing of Teesta water.