A method to improve size estimates of walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma) and Atka mackerel (Pleurogrammus monopterygius) consumed by pinnipeds: digestion correction factors applied to bones and otoliths recovered in scats. From: Fishery Bulletin | Date: July 1, 2004| Author: Tollit, Dominic J.; Heaslip, Susan G.; Zeppelin, Tonya K.; Joy, Ruth; Call, Katherine A.; Trites, Andrew W. | COPYRIGHT 2004 National Marine Fisheries Service. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan.  All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group.Copyright information

Abstract--The lengths of otoliths and other skeletal structures recovered from the scats of pinnipeds, such as Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus), correlate with body size and can be used to estimate the length of prey consumed. Unfortunately, otoliths are often found in too few scats or are too digested to usefully estimate prey size. Alternative diagnostic bones are frequently recovered, but few bone-size to prey-size correlations exist and bones are also reduced in size by v...