Marine debris prevention projects and activities in the Republic of Korea and United States a compilation of project summary reports

South Korea’s marine debris buyback program is an incentive program to encourage fishermen to bring to port entangled derelict fishing gear and other marine debris encountered while fishing. The program pays a small incentive fee for marine debris brought to port. Since its start in 2003 by the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (now the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs) this program has been implemented in 51 local areas of 38 cities/towns within South Korea as of 2009. Introduction The deposition of large amounts of marine litter in nearshore areas threatens the habitat of marine life and navigation safety, and may cause negative impacts to fisheries due to ghostfishing. In the past, fishermen have encountered derelict fishing gear during fishing activities and throw it back into the sea after disentangling it from their own fishing gear. As a result, a great deal of fishery‐related marine litter has been deposited in coastal areas where it damages the spawning grounds and habitats of marine wildlife, threatens the safety of vessels, and impacts fishery operations and resources. For this reason, the Korean central government’s Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs (MLTM) established the buyback program, under which the local government purchases the litter pulled up by fishing boats and disposes of it under proper procedures. The buyback program for marine litter requires fishermen to bring back to port the collected litter when they are fishing. Litter collected includes items such as worthless fishery‐related marine litter (e.g., rope, net and vinyl). This program Derelict rope collected in a sack provided through the is not only an efficient and cost‐effective way buyback program. to collect marine litter, but it also increases the fishermen’s awareness of the destructiveness of such litter to the marine environment. Another benefit of the program is the extra income fishermen receive. The main objectives of the buyback programs are to improve the marine environment and aid the recovery of fish populations.