Hiyama Haishen is a special type of dried sea cucumber that is unique to the Hiyama region in Japan's Hokkaido prefecture and is a certified Geographical Indication (GI) product. The product is protected under the Processed Marine Product (Dried Sea Cucumber) category.
History
The production of dried sea cucumber in the Hiyama region has a long history. During the Edo period (1604-1867), dried sea cucumber was recorded as one of the marine products exported to the Qing Dynasty (present-day China) as a luxury item.
Traditionally carried out by fishermen on a small scale and individually, production was consolidated under a cooperative umbrella with the establishment of a facility in 1985. Although cooperative production ceased in 2004 due to price increases in 2002, individual production continued until 2013. In 2014, fishermen began efforts to restart cooperative production with the desire to deliver dried sea cucumbers, with their place of origin and producer specified, to consumers. After a three-year preparation period, full-scale cooperative production and sales of Hiyama Haishen resumed in 2017.
About Hiyama Haishen (地理的表示産品情報発信サイト)
Production Area and Natural Connection
The production area of Hiyama Haishen encompasses the towns of Setana, Yakumo, Otobe, Esashi, Kaminokuni, and Okushiri within the Hiyama District of Hokkaido. The connection between this region and the product stems largely from the favorable natural environment of the geographical area and local fishing methods.
The coastal waters of Hokkaido's Hiyama District feature numerous coastal reefs and sufficient sandy surfaces, providing an ideal habitat for sea cucumbers. Sea cucumbers caught in the region are particularly known for their abundance of spines.
The Hiyama region differs from other Hokkaido fishing areas in that sea cucumbers are rarely harvested using fishing nets (dragnets and trawl nets). The vast majority of sea cucumbers in the region (96%) are caught using hand-gathering methods (diving or gathering by hand with tools such as scissors/scoop nets).
The manual harvesting method ensures that small sea cucumbers are left in the sea and that care is taken to avoid damaging their bodies and spines during collection. This minimizes defects that occur during fishing and reduce product quality, making it possible to use the highest quality sea cucumbers.
Production Process
Ingredients for Hiyama Haishen is sea cucumbers, which are kept alive only just before pre-treatment. These sea cucumbers are caught off the coast of Hiyama Prefecture, Hokkaido, without the use of a fishing net like a scallop. During pre-treatment, the abdomen is cut open to remove the intestines and sand/mud, and the cucumbers are washed with fresh or seawater. They are then boiled in fresh water, drained in a strainer to cool, and the remaining internal organs are removed before being boiled again in fresh water. The temperature and duration of the boiling water are adjusted according to the size of the cucumbers, and no salt curing is done after boiling. Finally, the cooled sea cucumbers are dried on drying tables using methods such as sun drying, fan drying, or vacuum freezing.
Quality Standards
To be shipped as Hiyama Haishen, the product must meet specific shipping standards. Sea cucumbers that bend when pushed with a finger due to inadequate drying, that smell moldy or spoiled, that do not appear covered in spines, that are over-filleted, that are defective, or that have a poor overall appearance will not be shipped as Hiyama Haishen.
