THE DIET OF EUROPEAN HAKE (MERLUCCIUS-MERLUCCIUS) IN THE NORTHERN PART OF THE BAY OF BISCAY

In 1991 and 1992, 8293 stomachs of the European hake were examined from quarterly sampling in the northern Bay of Biscay. Of the stomach contents examined during six cruises, 33% contained food, 47% were empty, 7% had regurgitated, and 13% contained food remains. The diet of hake was mainly composed of fish (96% by weight), with a predominance of horse-mackerel (23%), anchovy (19%) and blue whiting (14%), and crustaceans and cephalopods (4%). The prey comprised 43% commercial species (excluding horse-mackerel), with Clupeidae representing 33% of the total weight. On the nursery grounds, the European hake eats small quantities of its own juveniles, but small hake are not preyed upon by large hake which generally stay on other fishing grounds.