It was learnt at the Sawarighat wholesale market yesterday that the supply of Burmese fish remained suspended for two days after Saturday's drive that saw seizure and destruction of 6.5 tonne fish.

Meanwhile, retailers' disinterest in buying Burmese fish has resulted in a 50-percent increase in the prices of local fish, especially ruhi and katla.

The presence of Burmese fish at the wholesale markets, however, was not as much as before, and a few traders said it is because of the businessmen's cautiousness.

"Traders do not display Burmese fish openly in the market; they keep very few samples mixed with local ruhi and katla. They only sell it to retailers they know well," said a shrimp trader.

Another trader said they are facing difficulties in selling Burmese fish since most retailers are not willing to take any risk by buying them.

"As far as we know, importers have sent their imported fish to different cold storages and are waiting for the situation to become normal," said a businessman, adding, "We used to get supply of around 8,000-10,000kg fish everyday, which has now halved."

On Saturday, a mobile court comprising the joint forces destroyed around 6.5 tonne formalin-treated fish and seized around 187kg jatka (small Hilsha) from the wholesale fish markets at Sawarighat, Kaptan Bazar and Waizghat in the city. Lion part of the fish was imported from Myanmar.

None of the law enforcement authorities deployed any forces at the wholesale markets following the drive to check entrance of Burmese fish.

A senior army officer told The Daily Star that they are corresponding with the government departments concerned to stop import of fish as it is not possible to raid or deploy forces at every market.

Many wholesale fish traders claimed that they do not use formalin in fish and that the fish is Treated with the chemical from where it comes.

One trader admitted that they are aware that "preserving medicine" is used in fish. "We can understand the presence of the medicine when we see flies not staying on the fish for more than a second or not sitting on them at all," said Keramat Maola, a fish trader at Sawarighat.

The prices of all Burmese fish decreased by 30-40 percent, standing at Tk 45-52 per kg depending on the fish's size. On the other hand, the prices of all local fish, especially ruhi and katla, increased by 50 percent since their demand increased.

"The price has increased now by only 50 percent as many consumers have stopped buying big fish. But when they start buying big fish again the prices will see another raise," said Rahmatullah, a fish trader at Sawarighat.

Traders at the Karwan Bazar kitchen market said the prices of all kinds of fish increased as fish is not much available in the markets.

"Many people are now showing interest in small fish believing these are not treated with formalin, but the supply of small fish is not sufficient as per the demand," said Rafiqul, a trader at Karwan Bazar.

BSS adds: The government has appointed an expert to examine whether the imported fish from Myanmar contain formalin.

Nazim Uddin Ahmed, assistant director of the Fisheries Department, told reporters that the government would soon set up a laboratory at Teknaf land port to inspect imported fish.

The marketing of fish imported from Myanmar came to a halt when a mobile court in Dhaka seized 170 maunds of formalin-treated fish at Swarighat wholesale market and Kaptan Bazar kitchen market on February 24.