Stomach contents from 30 long-finned pilot whales Globicephala melascaptured incidentally in the Distant Water Fleet (DWF) mackerel fishery off the northeastern United States were examined. Several methods of assessing prey importance were used in order to construct a true representation of the pilot whale diet. Separate analyses of trace (free, durable body parts from well-digested prey) and non-trace (relat~vely lntact prey) food materials were conducted to address biases caused by differential rates of dlgest~on and passage. Squids dom~nated the diet and lonq-f~nned squid Lollgo pealei was the most ~mportant prey, but we noted large yearly fluctuat~ons in prey importance. Metnc multidimensional scal~ng analyses of trace and non-trace stomach contents of individual whales suggest that many a n~m a l s \\?ere caught while feeding oppol-tunlst~cally near fishing operations, resulting in a bias of non-trace [intact) stomach contents. The divers~ty of prey in this study was greater than previous reports of the food hablts of western North Atlantic long-finned pilot whales.