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ICES Journal of Marine Science: Journal du Conseil Advance Access published online on March 19, 2008
ICES Journal of Marine Science: Journal du Conseil, doi:10.1093/icesjms/fsn019
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© 2008 International Council for the Exploration of the Sea. Published by Oxford Journals. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Feeding of mature cod (Gadus morhua) on the spawning grounds in Lofoten

Kathrine Michalsen, Edda Johannesen and Bjarte Bogstad

Institute of Marine Research, PO Box 1870 Nordnes, N-5817 Bergen, Norway

Correspondence to K. Michalsen: tel: +47 55 238500; fax: +47 55 238687; e-mail: kathrine{at}imr.no

Michalsen, K., Johannesen, E., and Bogstad, B. 2008. Feeding of mature cod (Gadus morhua) on the spawning grounds in Lofoten. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 65.

Many authors state that cod (Gadus morhua) do not feed during the spawning period. However, this more or less established fact has rarely been investigated in the field. Here, the content of stomachs from Northeast Arctic cod (NEAC) and Norwegian coastal cod (NCC) sampled from the spawning ground in Lofoten were examined over a 10-year period (1996–2006). The occurrence of food in the stomachs of spawning cod, stomach fullness, diet composition, and variation in these variables between NEAC and NCC, year, and sex were analysed and compared. The analysis shows that cod do feed, even when they are in a spawning state. NCC had a lower proportion of empty stomachs and the stomachs were fuller than those from NEAC. Females had a lower proportion of empty stomachs than males and their stomachs were in general fuller. Herring (Clupea harengus) dominated the diet of cod. However, cod consumption of herring on the spawning grounds seems to be a minor source of mortality on herring. Although spawning cod do feed, the proportion of empty stomachs was higher and stomach fullness was lower than in stomachs of NEAC from the Barents Sea.

Keywords: herring, mature cod, spawning, stomach contents

Received 25 May 2007; accepted 30 December 2007.


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