The East Sea, with an average depth of 1700 m,has long been subject to heavy fishing pressure,resulting in
derelict fishing gear.Most derelict fishing gears, such as fishing nets, fishing ropes, and crab pots, sink to the
seabed and do not degrade.This gear results in‘‘ghost fishing,’’ which has adverse impacts on deep benthic
habitats. Recently,the Korean government has started to remove derelict fishing gears from the deep
seabed of the East Sea by bottom trawling with heavy hooks (50–80kg) and ropes. Atotalof 207.8 and
252.2 tons of marine debris in 2009 and 2010, respectively, were removed from the seabed, most of which
were derelict fishing gears.Contrary to monitoring surveys and clean-up in shallow waters, removal of
marine debris from remote deep habitats is much more difficult and dangerous for removal crews.