Dear Marmam colleagues, I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy during these challenging times. My co-authors and I are pleased to share our article on harbour seal diet: “Diet composition and biomass consumption of harbour seals in Telemark and Aust-Agder, Norwegian Skagerrak”. Citation: Maria Sørlie, Kjell Tormod Nilssen, Arne Bjørge & Carla Freitas (2020) Diet composition and biomass consumption of harbour seals in Telemark and Aust-Agder, Norwegian Skagerrak, Marine Biology Research, DOI: 10.1080/17451000.2020.1751205 <https://www.tandfonline.com/action/showCitFormats?doi=10.1080/17451000.2020.1751205> Abstract: To explore ecosystem dynamics and functions it is vital to obtain knowledge on predator–prey relations. Harbour seals are piscivorous predators that can come into conflict with fisheries. Recently, as the Skagerrak and Kattegat population of harbour seals has increased, claims have emerged that seals are depleting coastal cod populations. The diet of harbour seals in Norwegian Skagerrak was investigated based on otolith identification from scats. The overall seal diet included 20 different fish species/groups. The most important prey (combined index Qi) were haddock/pollack/saithe (32.7%), genus Trisopterus (Norway pout/poor cod/bib, 12.5%), plaice (12.4%) and herring (10.0%). Plaice also had the largest biomass (24.1%). Gadoids and pleuronectids comprised 88.6% of the diet (combined index Qi) and 87.1% in terms of biomass. Cod constituted 0.7% (combined index Qi) of the overall diet and 2.3% in terms of biomass. Fish length estimates showed that seals generally prefer small fish below minimum allowed landing size. Estimated total amount of fish consumed was 315 tons per year and was dominated by non-commercial species. Annual cod consumption was an estimated 7.1 tons, representing 5% of annual cod landings, suggesting that competition between local fisheries and harbour seals is limited. Key words: Phoca vitulina, cod, Gadus morhua, feeding ecology, prey consumption The article is Open Access and can be downloaded via this link: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17451000.2020.1751205 You can also email me for a pdf copy or if you have any inquiries at miokul@gmail.com I would like to extend my gratitude to readers of our work as well as editors and reviewers for their contributions to the finished product. Wishing everyone all the best, Maria Sørlie *********************************************** Maria Sørlie Master of Marine Ecology from University of Agder, Department of Natural Sciences University of Agder P.O.Box 422 4604 Kristiansand Norway https://www.uia.no/ miokul@gmail.com https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Maria_Sorlie https://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-s%C3%B8rlie-6b582259/ ***********************************************