The increased extent of deep-sea oil and gas exploitation puts pressure on the demand for environmental research and monitoring at great depths. Operation of biological and chemical sampling equipment in deep-sea situations is attended with several technical challenges. To overcome problems related to the operation of large bottom mooring weights and floating elements in order to avoid drifting of gear, we have developed a versatile rig unit for deep-water animal collection. The rig can be fitted with a range of sampling gear for collection of organisms at great depths. The retrieval operation is based on acoustic release from the seabed and for tracking purposes the rig is fitted with an acoustic transponder. The equipment can be operated with a small crane and does not require a specialized vessel. The trap was field tested down to 1100 m depth, fitted with three types of baited traps that caught deep-water fish and several invertebrate species.
