Food and Feeding of Ocean Redfish (Sebastes mentella Travin) in the North Atlantic

The food and feeding of ocean redfish are described from stomach contents of 26381 individuals analyzed on board commercial vessels in the Irminger waters from March to November. Most of the stomachs had been everted (15488). The feeding intensity mean value throughout the period was 7.1%. The feeding intensity was higher in the months of least reproductive activity in each sex. The prey spectrum was narrow, the diversity diminishing in autumn and winter. Crustacea dominates the redfish diet in March. Other items show great seasonal variation also as with Mollusca which have an increased presence in summer. Crustacea were more abundant in the diet of smaller individuals, the variety of fishes preyed on increasing with the length. The occurrence of Myctop hidae remains constant throughout the length range although their volume increases with size. A marked presence of offal was observed associated with the period of intense commercial activity: April to June. The offal occurrence and offal volume increased with length, particularly in the individuals larger than 40 cm. The intense fishing activity was observed to have a direct influence on diet composition. The main natural prey were: Copepoda (IRI=1582.5); Eupahusiacea (IRI=1361.9); Mollusca Decapoda (IRI=736.8) and Myctophydae (IRI= 220.3). The comparison between Flemish Cap and Irminger Sea redfish diet populations in the same month show important composition differences. The condition factor by month values (Mean=1.26+-0.12) were less than those obtained in the Flemish Cap population (Mean 1.43+-0.17)