Mean feeding intensity was 0.69% of the biomass (range 0.16–2.27%)
per day. DP was not significantly associated with feeding intensity
(p = 0.122). DE was negatively associated with feeding intensity
(coefficient −0.028, p = 0.035), and an increase in DE across the IQR
(20.5–22.3 MJ/kg) gave a reduction in feeding intensity by 0.05 percentage
points. Both fish size and water temperature had a significant
association with feeding intensity, p-values b 0.001. An increase in
fish size across the IQR (2538–4508 g) gave a decrease in feeding intensity
of 0.14 percentage points, while an increase in water temperature
across the IQR (5.2–10.3 °C) increased feeding intensity by 0.35 percentage
points. The proportion of variance at site level was high (20%)
and significant (p b 0.001).