Hilsa diplomacy in reverse: What's driving India's surprise fish export surge

The tide has turned.

For decades, hilsa flowed one way, from Bangladesh's rivers straight into Bengal's markets. Now, India is sending the prized fish across the border, and Bangladesh can't get enough of it.

Over the past two months, India has shipped roughly 500 tonnes of hilsa to Bangladesh, according to govt of India. Traders expect another 150-200 tonnes to cross in the coming weeks — a surge driven largely by a slump in Bangladesh's own domestic catch.

Much of the fish isn't even Bengali by origin. A large share has come from Gujarat's Bharuch region, while additional consignments have moved through West Bengal's Howrah wholesale fish market, long the nerve centre of the state's fish trade. Once across the border, the hilsa finds eager buyers: fish carrying high roe content is fetching strong demand in Chattogram and Sylhet, with some roe processed further for re-export, and other portions salted and dried.

Dr. Pradip Dey, Director of ICAR-CIFRI, called the export surge "a strong market signal reflecting the exceptional consumer preference, economic value and regional demand for this iconic fish." He added that for West Bengal, it's a chance to build "a knowledge-driven, sustainable and value-added Hilsa economy."

But the celebration comes with a caution. Scientists are warning that rising export demand could tempt heavier fishing pressure on wild stocks already under strain. The remedy, they say, lies in enforcing existing West Bengal government gazette rules — stricter policing of juvenile catches during March-May, keeping gillnet mesh sizes above 90mm to spare undersized fish under 500g, and honouring seasonal fishing bans around Mahalaya-Kali Puja and Holi, when hilsa migrate upstream to spawn.

Dr. Ranjan Kumar Manna, HoD at ICAR-CIFRI, framed conservation as forward-looking investment: "Hilsa conservation is an investment in the future of the fishery." He pointed to protecting migration corridors and salinity balance, along with breeding advances, as the foundation for "sustainable Hilsa fisheries in the Hooghly–Sundarban ecosystem."

The Sundarban's Saptamukhi, Matla, Thakuran and Herobhanga rivers, meanwhile, remain thin on hilsa — a consequence, researchers say, of reduced freshwater flow altering salinity patterns, something restoration and careful dredging could help reverse.