IN A ROLE reversal of sorts, India is exporting Hilsa fish to Bangladesh, bucking the trend of the neighbour supplying the sought-after variety that has the highest place of pride on Bengal's dining tables.
Around 500 tonnes of Hilsa, known as Ilish in Bengali, have been sent to Bangladesh over the past two months through the Petrapole land port on the international border in West Bengal. Traders expect an additional 150 to 200 tonnes to be exported in the coming weeks.
Traditionally, Hilsa is brought in from Bangladesh when its government allows export, generally during Durga Puja festive season. Currently, Bangladesh has paused Hilsa exports to India.
"This is the first time Hilsa from our country is being exported to Bangladesh... Most of the catch is from Gujarat," said Syed Anwar Maqsood, secretary of the Fish Importers Association in Bengal and the Howrah wholesale fish market.
A substantial portion is from Gujarat, particularly Bharuch region, and some supplies moved through Howrah fish market. Traders said Hilsa with high roe content is attracting considerable demand in Chattogram, Sylhet and other districts. The roe is extracted, packaged and re-exported after being salted, dried and sold in Bangladesh.
Kartik Chakraborty, secretary of Petrapole Clearing Agents Staff Welfare Association, said, "Earlier, we eagerly waited for Hilsa from the Padma river in Bangladesh. Now, its import was restricted. Now we are happy that fish from India is going to Bangladesh and people there like it."
For decades, Ilish diplomacy flowed one way — Dhaka gifted it to Delhi before Durga Puja. The 2012 ban, then restricted Puja windows — 2420 MT permitted in Sept 2024 but only 577 MT actually imported — exposed West Bengal's vulnerability. Now Gujarat's estuarine catch is filling Bangladesh's own shortage, and its roe economy. For West Bengal, as Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute director Pradip Dey notes, this is a chance to move from nostalgia to a value-added Hilsa economy — cold-chain, branding, exporters. The iconic fish now has two homes, and for once, the trade wind is blowing west to east.