Rabeya Sultana stopped in front of the fish stalls at Uttar Badda market. Tilapia, koi and pangas were laid out before her, but none of the prices fitted the budget of someone earning Tk12,500 a month.
The garment worker has to cover rent, food and the expenses of her two children from that income. She had come to the market hoping to buy some fish for them, but the prices left her unsure what to do.
“The cheapest I found was tilapia at Tk250 a kg. I have two children and they want to eat fish. How can we afford it when prices rise like this?” she asks in despair.
Tilapia, pangas, farmed koi and other relatively inexpensive fish have for years been important sources of protein for low-income families. But prices have risen so sharply over the past few months that fish is increasingly disappearing from the plates of families like Rabeya’s.
A visit to Karwan Bazar on Friday found tilapia selling for Tk250-Tk260 a kg and pangas for Tk220-Tk230. Small rohu were selling for around Tk300 a kg, while larger ones cost more than Tk500. Katla prices were in a similar range.
Those were Karwan Bazar prices. In other markets across the city, consumers often have to pay another Tk50-Tk100 per kg.
Farmed koi has climbed to Tk300 a kg. Even relatively cheap marine poa now costs more than Tk250, while loitta, which could be bought for Tk100-Tk120 a kg two years ago, now sells for more than Tk200.
Farmed shing (stinging catfish) is selling for Tk300-Tk450 a kg depending on size.
Karwan Bazar fish traders Md Karim and Sultan Mia said heavy rain had prevented fishermen from going out on rivers, while flooded roads had also reduced the number of buyers coming to the market.
They said supplies had fallen to less than half their usual level, pushing prices up by around Tk100 per kg.
Daud Rahman, a resident of Tejgaon, said after seeing the prices at Karwan Bazar, “Balancing income and expenses has become very difficult. We are having to borrow just to manage monthly costs. The government needs to take action.”
Habib Rahman, an autorickshaw driver from Banasree, said, “For someone earning Tk400-Tk500 a day, even a Tk2 increase per kg creates pressure. If this trend continues, it will be difficult for us to survive.”
SM Nazer Hossain, vice-president of the Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB), said higher fuel prices had given traders another excuse to raise prices.
“Transport is obviously closely linked with people’s livelihoods, but prices in the market are being increased across the board by far more than what can reasonably be justified,” he said.
But why are prices of farmed fish rising so sharply?
Biswajit Dutta Bhowmik, a fish farmer in Mymensingh, told TIMES that feed prices had risen three times over the past three months, by Tk3 per kg each time.
His farm covers more than one and a half acres and produces tilapia, tengra, pangas, native fish, rohu, katla and other varieties.
Biswajit said the prices of medicines and probiotics were also rising, while added electricity bills were adding further pressure as motors are used to pump oxygen into the water.
He also raised questions over the quality of medicines used in fish farming.
“In the past, five kg of a particular medicine a month would have been enough for one pond. Now why do I need 30 kg a month? I do not have an answer to that either,” he said.
Md Ahsanuzzaman, senior vice-president of the Feed Industries Association Bangladesh (FIAB), acknowledged that feed prices had increased.
“The prices of raw materials have risen abnormally. Soybean meal used to be imported at $418-$420 a tonne, with a local price of Tk54-Tk55 per kg. It has now risen to Tk65. Under new letters of credit, imports are costing $500 a tonne, meaning the local price could reach Tk67-Tk70,” he told TIMES.
He said rising transport costs, higher electricity prices and increasing bank lending rates had combined to put smaller feed mills under pressure, forcing some to cut production or shut down.
For families such as Rabeya’s, turning away from fish and heading to vegetable stalls offers little relief.
Beans are selling for Tk200 a kg, while papaya, among the cheapest vegetables, costs Tk30 a kg. Most common vegetables cost at least Tk70-Tk120 a kg.
Khalid Ibn Mizan, a shopper at Karwan Bazar, said, “Everything is expensive. We are having to buy aubergines at Tk100 a kg and bitter gourd at Tk80.”
Rice prices are also moving upwards.
Md Mosharraf Hossain of Laksam Traders at Karwan Bazar said prices of fine and medium-grain rice had increased by Tk50-Tk100 per sack because of higher transport costs.
Retail prices of all varieties of rice have also risen by Tk2 a kg in Merul Badda, Banasree and Malibagh markets.
Prices of both loose and packaged flour and refined flour have also increased.
Data from the state-run Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) show that over the past month, prices of medium-grain rice have increased by 2.50 per cent and fine rice by 1.29 per cent.
Packaged atta has risen by 8 per cent, packaged maida by 16.67 per cent, loose atta by 2 per cent and loose maida by 3.70 per cent.
Edible oil and pulses have also become more expensive.
Egg prices, meanwhile, have remained volatile for a long time. Farm-produced brown eggs are now selling for Tk55 for four and Tk155 a dozen.
Professor Abu Torab Md Abdur Rahim of the Institute of Nutrition and Food Science at the University of Dhaka said that the declining consumption of animal protein among low-income people is affecting their physical and mental capacity in the long term.
He said the current market situation is a multidimensional crisis. Due to declining incomes and rising food expenses, people are gradually becoming deprived of essential proteins, fats and other nutrients.
“In some cases, more than 80 percent of people’s income, and even their entire income, is being spent on buying food, which indicates a severe decline in purchasing power,” he added.
