West Bengal Fish Importers' Association has urged the Bangladesh government to resume exporting hilsa to India once the ban on fishing ends.

As the first few consignments of hilsa reached markets in West Bengal in the last few days, the Association Secretary Syed Anwar Maqsood spoke to Bangladesh High Commissioner in New Delhi on Thursday to convey to the authorities in Dhaka to facilitate the export of the entire consignment of 4,500 tonnes of the fish, reports our New Delhi correspondent.

Bangladesh and Indian importers are of the view that it would be very difficult to complete the cross-border trade of hilsa in the next nine to ten days, said Maqsood.

The realistic assessment is that only 600 tonnes of hilsa could be imported in the next ten days, which means the remaining around 4,000 tonnes export target would remain unfulfilled, he added.

It takes time to get the sanitary import permit to bring hilsa from across the border because the permits are issued against the names of exporting entities, said the association secretary.

The first hilsa consignment reached Kolkata markets last Thursday.

Unlike last year, when the average weight of the imported fish was higher, the average weight of hilsa from Bangladesh this time ranges from 800 g to 1.5 kg with a price tag between Rs 1,200 to Rs 1,600.