Seaweed farmers in the wildfire-stricken city of Ofunato in northeastern Japan's Iwate Prefecture have begun harvesting cultivated wakame for the first time this season.



Offloading of the local specialty got into full swing at Ryori Port on Saturday.



The harvest comes about a week later than in the past several years due to an evacuation order issued late last month after forest fires broke out.



The freshly collected wakame seaweed turned a deep green after farmers boiled it for roughly one minute. It was then cooled and packed for shipment.



Farmer Odaira Hideo landed more than a ton of wakame by crane from his boat at the port. His home and work gear had been spared damage from the blazes, allowing him to prepare for harvesting as soon as the evacuation order was lifted on Monday.



Odaira said he wanted to send a message that Ryori's wakame industry is hanging on. He also said he will work harder while thinking about people affected by the fires.



Port officials said some farmers have no choice but to ship wakame in a raw form as the fires have disabled their cookers. They said the price of raw wakame tends to be lower than if it is boiled.