不知火海沿岸漁民の魚食文化―水俣病発生前の女島における聞き取り調査に基づいた再現調査による魚介類摂取量―

抄録

The purpose of this study was to determine the dietary habits of the Meshima-Oki district, particularly to obtain an estimate of the consumption of fish and other seafoods prior to the Minamata disease breakout. This small fishing district, which was hard hit by Minamata disease, is located in Ashikita-machi, Ashikita-gun, Kumamoto Prefecture.

For this study, interviews were conducted with 18 informants. The results showed that seafood was the primary food consumed in the subject area together with cooked wheat and Japanese sweet potatoes. Furthermore, the survey determined that the primary seafoods consumed at every meal included anchovies (Engraulidae), hairtail (Trichiuridae), threadfin (Polynemidae), Japanese horse mackerel (Trachurus japonicus), black rockfish (Sebastidae), octopuses, oysters, sea cucumbers, and stomatopods. These were eaten raw, boiled, or in miso soup.

In the meal reproduction survey, the dishes that were typically identified as having been consumed prior to the outbreak of Minamata disease were reproduced and shown to six informants. They were asked to reproduce servings of three types of seafood dishes that were commonly consumed during the purse seine catches of autumn, the purse seine catches of winter, and the non-purse seine catches of winter. Later, the volumes of food consumption, particularly seafood, were measured and recorded.

The net intake volume of the seafood consumed was determined from the calculated values modified using the actual scrappage rate, which was obtained from what remained after eating miso-soup with fish and boiled fish dishes. In addition, the number of calories contained in grains, sweet potatoes, and seafood were calculated afterward to verify the validity of the net intake volume of the seafood.

The results showed that the daily per-person fish and other seafood intake volume ranged from 57 g to 1043 g on a consumption of three meals a day depending on the season and type of work. The results of this study enabled us to make an accurate analysis of the dietary habits of the fishing village in the area along the Shiranui Sea, where “fish and other seafood were consumed as the main food items” prior to the breakout of the Minamata disease.