Barishal’s Choumatha market: A name dear to fish lovers
Apart from the demand of local customers, orders for fish come to the retail fish traders of the market, from different parts of the country, by mobile phone
Shafiqul Islam has been a customer of the fish market in Choumatha area of Barishal city for 12 years. He always purchases fish from this market as he has never been disappointed after buying fish from here.
"The market is very popular among fish lovers for the freshness and good quality of its fish," said another regular customer of the market Amir Hossain, a resident of the city.
Apart from local customers, orders for fish are made through phone to the retail fish traders of the market from different parts of the country.
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"We get a good number of orders for fish over the phone. We send fish to the customers via courier service," said Shahin, a fish seller of the market.
The market has all the facilities for packaging the fish to send them to different destinations, he added.
Different varieties of native fish, the demand for which is high among customers, are available in the fish market.
"Many customers come to the market to get freshwater or river fish," said Shahin.
The market has 10 wholesale and around 200 retail shops.
Each retail shop makes sales of around Tk10,000 to Tk15,000 per day and their total sales stand at around Tk20 lakh to Tk30 lakh per day.
Around 25 people cut the fish for customers in the market and earn a good amount of money from it.
Each of them earn around Tk800-Tk1,500 per day, they said.
The market, initiated in the 1980s, starts in the evening and continues till late night daily.
It has a unique characteristic that no fish seller gives false information to the customers about their fish, according to the fish traders of the market.
"If a seller gives false information to the customers regarding his fish and the customers complain to the market authorities, the fish shop of the seller will be closed forever," said Jihad Hossain, a fish seller of the market.
A fish shop was removed from the market for selling shrimp injected with jelly, he said.
The fish of the market are free of preservatives and harmful chemicals, Jihad continued.
"The prices of the fish are a little bit higher than those of other markets in the city but customers are ready to pay the prices for the quality of the fish," he said.
Fish of any kind and size are available at this market year-round.
Fish are collected from twelve spots of Barishal division.
"Fishermen bring all the fresh and lucrative fish here to get good prices. The fishermen think if they bring their fish here, they can easily sell it to us at fair prices," said Maksudul Haque, a retail fish seller of the market.
