Fisherman Rais Uddin is 60 now. The fair is being held for about 100 years, drawing attractive fishes and thousands of buyers from greater Sylhet and other districts as well.

Every year he comes to Serpur fish fair with fishes. This year, Rais Uddin's stall was an attraction as he brought some fishes of exceptionally huge size from haor areas. One of his fishes was a local 'Bagha Ayir' weighing about 70 kg. He demanded a price of Tk 85,000 for this.

An expatriate in UK first offered Tk 45,000. Another expatriate offered Tk 50,000. But Rais Uddin would not sell the fish at a price below Tk 60,000.

Finally it was handed over to one of the expatriates at the price he demanded. There were many fishermen like Rais Uddin. Shamsul Islam, Hira Miah, Lal Miah, Md Sharif, Arbesh Miah and Md Nurul Hoque and many others came to the fair from different districts with local varieties of sweet water fishes of huge size. Big size fishes like Boal, Ayir, Chital, Ruhi, Katla, Koi, Magur etc were great attractions for the crowd, particularly children and youngsters, who never saw and could imagine the rich fish resources Bangladesh could have.

Shamsul Islam brought a Chital fish weighting about 30 kg. He sold it at Tk 15,000.

Hira Miah brought a pair of Katla fish and Lal Miah had brought a pair of huge- seized Boal fish caught from Hakaluki Haor.

Hira Miah demanded Tk 16,000 for his Katla fishes and Lal Miah demanded Tk 18,000 for his pair of Boal fish.

This year, the fish fair started Friday (January 12) evening and continued till Saturday noon.

About 500 fishermen came to the fair. There were about 5,000 makeshift shops of other goods at the fair, held on the bank of Kushiyara River. The fair is a tradition in Moulvibazar district.

The fair begins on the last day of Bangla month of Poush as per a Hindu tradition when they observe Poush Sankranty. As per a religious tradition, they take good dishes prepared with fish on the last day of Poush and the first day of the following month of Magh.

This year, the district administration auctioned the fair spot at Tk 5,13,000. One Abu Taher Minto of Hamorkuna village auctioned the fair place this year. Fishermen came to the fair with fishes caught from Monu, Kushiyara, Surma rivers and different haors and water-bodies in Sylhet and Kishoreganj regions. Thousands of people from all walks of life attended the fish fair every year to purchase fishes of their choice.

Though it started as a fish fair one hundred years ago, household goods, handicrafts, toys, sweetmeat, fruits and many other items are available at the fair now.

The district administration took special measures to maintain law and order and not to allow anti-social activities like gambling at the fair. A police contingent led by two magistrates and Assistant Police Superintendent were on duty. Fair goers expressed satisfaction at the administration's steps this year.