Kolkata: Banned khoka ilish or juvenile hilsa weighing 150-250 gm was sold with impunity in Kolkata markets. Customers happily lapped them up on the day of ‘Ranna Puja’ that is celebrated on Bhadra Sankranti, on the day of the Bengali month of Bhadra which falls on the eve of Vishwakarma Puja.
With no vigil on the landing of juvenile hilsa in fishing harbours or at retail markets, the markets in Kolkata were flooded with khoka ilish on Monday.And fish vendors did brisk business as shoppers lapped up the fish sold at Rs 480-500 a kg.
Good quality hilsa weighing 1.5 kg or more usually costs Rs 2,000-2,200 a kg during the festive period.
Satya Das, a fish seller at Lansdowne Market, brought 10 kg of juvenile hilsa from Canning that got sold out during the morning market on Monday.
“It is not possible for me to buy big size hilsa due to the heavy price,” said Jagganath Halder who has ‘Ranna Puja’ on Monday night and bought two kg of juvenile hilsa comprising 13 pieces at Rs 480 a kg.
“The price of juvenile hilsa weighing between 150-250 gm has now shot up to Rs 450-500 a kg in Kolkata’s fish market,” said Rakesh Majhi, a fish seller in Maniktala Market who usually sells big sized hilsa from Bharuch in Gujarat and the Bay of Bengal.
Bijoy Kumar Shaw, secretary of Maniktala Market who said he is not aware of juvenile hilsa being sold in their market added, “We will keep vigil if there is any such sale of juvenile hilsa.”
The illegal use of fine mesh under 90 mm, banned to protect these young fish, has contributed to the situation at the source level. While the minimum permissible weight of hilsa for catch and sale in markets is 500g, the size of hilsa available in abundance in wholesale markets at Raidighi, Frazerganj, Namkhana, Kakdwip and Diamond Harbour is between 80g and 250g.
In the past the small hilsa was usually found during transportation to city markets. There have been crackdowns and even searches in the wholesale fish markets every time, but this year this has not happened.
“During the month of Sept usually there are plenty of juvenile hilsa available every year in the Sundarbans rivers and local fishermen rampantly use the banned fishing nets,” said Rabin Das, treasurer, Raidighi Fisherman’s Owner Welfare Association.
The catch in many cases is as small as three inches in size and weighs around 60 gm. Even prohibited nets such as bag nets, drag nets, gill nets, and troll nets are used in abundance by trawler operators.