15 Things Deadliest Catch Execs Don't Want Us To Know

Posted by Tandra Barner on Tuesday, June 11, 2024

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Since it first aired in 2005, Discovery Channel documentary collection, Deadliest Catch has been retaining audiences on each in their sofas, masking the occasions of crab fishing vessels at the icy Bering Sea. It's showcased the lives of the captains and their crews as they possibility their lives in probably the most deadliest jobs in the world. But there’s a excellent explanation why these males brave massive waves and underneath freezing temperatures to bring of their haul – the really extensive sum of money they may be able to earn if their Captain gets them “on the crab”. Audiences are hooked on the antics of the fishermen and their skippers and will’t appear to get sufficient of this real-life prime sea adventure.

But similar to some other so-called “reality reveal”, there is plenty that is going on in the back of the scenes that ends up on the reducing room ground, so as to make it extra enjoyable to the general target audience. The display is of course edited, because of this that executives come to a decision what is going in and the way they want to frame it. So just what secrets have Deadliest Catch executives been making an attempt to keep from us? What is truth and what's if truth be told simply TV fiction? Here are 15 things that they’ve attempted to quilt up and details they don’t want you to know…

It’s Not Just Coffee Keeping Them Awake

In an unique interview with Cracked, Dash Adams, a former deckhand who labored on an Alaskan fishing boat, printed that the crews of Deadliest Catch could be the use of greater than coffee to stay them conscious on the ones fishing marathons. On the exhibit, we see males operating for extremely long hours when the captain gets them “at the crab” and all of us know that even the hardest human being cannot cross see you later without some more or less stimulation. According to Dash drug use does exist in the trade, but it surely’s mostly glossed over for the reveal. And did get a glimpse into one Captain's battle with substance abuse when Elliott Ness battled his own internal demons, so what Adams is saying is likely to be true.

There’s Always A Camera Crew Stationed With The Coast Guard

The U.S. Coast Guard has steadily been proven on Deadliest Catch, rescuing crab boat workforce contributors who are unfortunate enough to in finding themselves stuck in the middle of the harsh Bering Sea. Because of the chance of the fishing actions in the house, the U.S Coast Guard assists in keeping rescue squads stationed at their Integrated Support Command in Kodiak, and on their outpost on St. Paul Island, which is close to the northern finish of the crab fishing grounds. The rescue squad was prominently featured all over the loss of vessels just like the F/V Big Valley in January 2005 and the F/V Ocean Challenger in October 2006. Because the producers never know what is going to happen, they at all times keep a camera workforce stationed with the U.S Coast Guard.

One Deckhand Sued The Hillstrands And Was Awarded $1.4 Million In Damages

Earlier this yr a tale in regards to the Hillstrand brothers of the F/V Time Bandit surfaced and it did not paint them in a very flattering mild. A former deckhand David “Beaver” Zielinski filed a lawsuit towards the brothers after an twist of fate onboard in 2013 put an abrupt halt to his lengthy profession as a crab fisherman. A firecracker – which was once aimed on the F/V Cape Caution (Wild Bill’s boat) at the time - exploded in the launcher he was once preserving and shattered his right hand and forearm. And no longer unexpected all the movie footage from the Discovery Channel, which captured the incident, mysteriously disappeared – how convenient. Zielinski’s lawyers even claimed that a member of the Hillstrand family intentionally destroyed evidence of the grisly incident. David was once awarded $1.4 million in damages.

The Show Doesn’t Really Cover The Deadliest Type Of Crab Fishing

We can’t argue that Deadliest Catch showcases one of the most unhealthy professions on the earth but is it in reality the deadliest? According to some observers, the exhibit if truth be told doesn’t rather live up to its name because it covers red king and opilio crab fishing, which historically don't have the absolute best death rates for fishermen.

The Dungeness crab trade is a ways deadlier – with a loss of life price almost double that of any other form of fishing. This is because Dungeness boats don’t require a Coast Guard safety inspection to get authorised and the industry still operates on a “derby” device which means that that green captains take larger risks to convey within the crab. The Discovery Channel has known this and introduced a spin-off series masking the Dungeness crab business called Deadliest Catch: Dungeon Cove.

The Cameramen Have Had A Few Close Calls Of Their Own

The crab fishermen aren’t the one ones who put their lives at the line, the Discovery Channel movie staff has additionally had a few shut calls. You have to understand that throughout the early seasons the movie crews had little or no experience of crab boats and had been encountering risks that aren't typically found in documentary filming. And injuries have happened, one cameraman suffered a significant chest injury when his leg fell via an open hatch. Captain Sig Hansen of the Northwestern advised communicate exhibit host Jimmy Kimmel about another incident when he gave the impression on his display. He recounted how he stored a cameraman’s existence through screaming at him to move just moments sooner than a 900-pound crab pot landed where he were standing.

Producers Need To Be Creative When It Comes To Swearing

Deadliest Catch centers around on a regular basis existence in one of the crucial nerve-racking working environments imaginable, so numerous impolite hand gestures and language has to be censored out to make it appropriate for audiences. That’s why accidents or impolite gestures will at all times be pixilated or blurred out. If you had been operating within the freezing cold, in the midst of the sea, with 100 things that could kill you at any minute you’d swear too proper? Well, the lads in this demonstrate without a doubt don’t grasp back even when the cameras are around. But when it comes to the swearing, the manufacturers have to be creative with their censoring – in a different way, we'd just hear bleeps for many of the display. The manner they do that is by alternating with other sounds like the “clang” of a hatch door, the ship’s horn, or a burst of radio static.

Phil Harris Insisted Discovery Channel Film His Final Hours

During the filming of season 6, Captain Phil Harris (of the Cornelia Marie) complained of feeling tired and went to his room to leisure. Not long after some of the staff members found that he had collapsed, and even supposing he used to be still aware, he used to be not able to move the left side of his body. While they waited for the paramedics to arrive Phil insisted that the camera crews continue to movie. According to Thom Beers (manufacturer and author of Deadliest Catch), they honored his wishes and persevered to shoot till he was airlifted off the boat. He stated, “We want to keep in mind Phil as who he was once. We want to bear in mind the entire dynamics, however on the identical time, the guy used to be insistent after we were doing this, announcing, 'Dude, you've got to. We've were given to have an end to the story (concerning the energy and resiliency of familial bonds, especially the daddy/son bond). You want to movie this, movie this.'" Harris was rushed to surgery but sadly died from stroke complications a few days later.

The Way Greenhorns Are Treated Has Led To Mixed Reactions

Fans of the show aren’t crazy about the way that the greenhorns on the crabbing boats are often treated. Understandably the experienced salt-hardened fishermen have a low tolerance when it comes to poor performance, but sometimes they take it too far with the greenhorns and many fans have commented that their behavior amounts to bullying. The greenhorns do need to listen to the more experienced deckhands (of course – especially if they want to live long enough to spend their share of the haul) but where do you draw the line? And if the greenhorns complain about the treatment (or fight back) then they just get fired the moment the ship returns to port – and that has led to mixed reactions among fans. What do you think of the way the greenhorns are treated?

How Much The Captains Really Earn For Appearing On The Show

From what we’ve seen on the show we know that crab fishing is a highly lucrative job on its own but how much are the captains paid by Discovery Channel to appear on the show? It’s estimated that captains can rake in a six-figure income (after expenses) per a fishing season and that’s before their TV earnings hit their bank accounts. Insiders say that the captains earn a per-episode talent fee–standard practice for reality shows and point out that the amount can vary based on how popular the season is with fans. It’s thought that this number might be around the $25,000 mark for guys like Sig Hansen and Bill Wichrowski, and if that estimate is correct, it means they could be earning between $500,000 and $1,000,000 per a season – before they’ve counted a single crab.

The Show Almost Lost Sig Hansen And The Hillstrand Brothers

There’s hardly ever a day of smooth sailing on Deadliest Catch, and behind the scenes, things can get pretty turbulent as well. At one point it even looked like Sig Hansen (who also acts as a technical advisor for the show) and the Hillstrand brothers might leave the show because of the issues with the Discovery Channel.

In 2010 the network sued the Hillstrands for $3 million after they failed to finish production on a spin-off show called Hillstranded but just a few months later they announced that they would be returning to show after all. “We’re happy we worked everything out with Discovery,” they said in a statement. “A deal’s a deal. We’re heading up to Dutch Harbor to start filming the new season of Deadliest Catch and hopefully, it will be the best one yet.”

Jake Harris’ Downward Spiral

Jake Harris took the death of his father, Captain Harris, hard and has struggled to hold things together. According to People Magazine, not long after his dad passed away Jake was arrested for hit and run accident and was charged with drinking and driving. Then the police were called to investigate claims that Jake was abusing drugs while at sea and his brother Josh confessed that Jake was struggling with substance abuse, brought on by grief. “Jake's gotta take care of his own stuff right now. Deal with his demons,” he said. It’s sad to see how losing his father has affected Jake, who was so adamant about honoring his father and now seems to be doing quite the opposite. But hopefully, he’ll still be able to turn it all around.

You Shouldn’t Believe Everything You See

Like almost any type of reality TV show, you shouldn’t believe everything you see on Deadliest Catch because the show does sometimes exaggerate and dress up real-life events to make them more entertaining for their audiences. In one case the executives made it look as though one of the ships was in danger of sinking under massive waves during a storm (which is a real hazard for crab fishermen) but according to The Hollywood Reporter, the scenes aboard the boat and the waves themselves were not filmed at the same time. They alleged that the choppy waves were actually filmed more than a month later! It should come as no surprise that the Discovery Channel strongly denied this trickery, but we’re not so sure.

Sig Hansen, the captain of the hugely successful Northwestern fishing vessel, is undoubtedly one of the show’s most popular characters but he’s been embroiled in quite a few scandals lately.

Firstly, there are the allegations of abuse from his estranged daughter, who is seeking, surprise-surprise, “an undisclosed amount of damages” from him in a civil suit. So far no evidence has been brought forward to prove these claims and Hansen denies any wrongdoing stating, "This is nothing more than an old school shakedown. It's a completely frivolous lawsuit full of lies that my ex-wife made up to take away my daughter, and still makes use of to check out to extort cash from me. It's blackmail."

More recently Sig found himself in the hot seat again when an Uber driver sued him for damages, claiming that Hansen spit on him and damaged his vehicle.

It’s Not That Hard To Get A Job As A Greenhorn

According to those in the know, it’s really not that difficult to land a job as a greenhorn abroad one of the crabbing boats. On the show, we’ve seen plenty of fishermen come and go, and often seen that the captains aren’t too fussy about those they take abroad. All they need to do is have the appropriate license to fish – which can be easily purchased – and then all that remains is whether or not they can convince one of the captains to give them a shot. If you look like you are decent and can convince the skipper you’re worth the risk, then you’ll be in there like swimwear. Of course, you have to prove yourself once you are aboard and if you’ve lied about something it will probably come back to bite you. But it seems pretty easy to land the deadliest job in the world, doesn’t it?

Climate Change Might Spell The End Of The Show

The reveal may well be in trouble – now not because of its rankings – but as a result of the results of climate trade. And if one thing doesn’t change quickly Discovery Channel would possibly not have the rest to movie. The temperature of the Bering Sea is on the rise, it rose 4 degrees closing yr, which may now not sound like so much but it surely’s 50 instances the worldwide moderate. And because of this the crabs may also be on the move on the lookout for cooler waters. And if there are no crabs, there’s no display. Deadliest Catch executive producer R. Decker Watson, Jr explained, “The first thing that you want so as to film a exhibit about crab fishing are the crabs. If the crabs don’t exhibit up, then we’re all out of business.”

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