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India has exported about 500 tonnes of hilsa to Bangladesh over roughly two months — the first reversal of the usual Bangladesh-to-India flow, reported on 14 September 2026.
Another 150-200 tonnes are expected; the fish came mainly from Gujarat via Bharuch port, with some routed through Howrah's wholesale market.
Lower hilsa production in Bangladesh this year drove the imports; roe-rich Gujarat hilsa is in demand in Chattogram and Sylhet.
In 2025, Bangladesh had allowed 1,200 tonnes of hilsa to be exported to India ahead of the festive season.
Anadromous fish live in the sea but swim up rivers to spawn — hilsa enters the Padma, Meghna, Ganga and Godavari to breed. Catadromous fish do the reverse, living in fresh water and breeding at sea, like freshwater eels.
Simple Analogy: Grows up at sea, goes home to the river to breed.
Hilsa is Bangladesh's national fish and the state fish of West Bengal; it received a GI tag in Bangladesh in 2017.
One of the most commercially important transboundary species of the Bay of Bengal, shared by Bangladesh, India and Myanmar — its catch depends on river flows and breeding-season fishing bans.
Hilsa moved from Gujarat's Bharuch port and West Bengal's Howrah market to Bangladeshi buyers in Chattogram and Sylhet. Its spawning migration runs up the Padma and Meghna in Bangladesh and the Ganga and Godavari in India.
GS Paper II > India and its neighbourhood; Prelims > Species in news
General Awareness > National symbols / State symbols
Sea-dwelling fish that migrates up rivers to spawn
The herring family, to which hilsa belongs
Tag linking a product's quality to its place of origin