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Forty-foot waves, 700 pound crab pots, freezing temperatures and your mortality staring you in the face…it's all in a day's work for these modern day prospectors. During each episode we will watch crews race to meet their quota and make it home safely.
2005
It's the first day of work at the world's deadliest job. Approximately 1,500 fishermen and 250 boats have converged on Dutch Harbor, Alaska, for the 2005 Alaskan king crab season. Each individual old salts and greenhorns alike ” is here to stake his claim on the 14 million pounds of crab that the season is expected to yield, and the chance to earn a year's wages in just one week. To that end, each boat's captain has his own strategy for success.With a radio countdown, the season begins and the first pots are dumped into the sea. It will be many hours before all the pots are set and even longer before anyone rests. But soon after the start, the stabilizer breaks on one of the boats, forcing its crew to fish with a potentially deadly problem. For others, it's fish guts and crab pots as they desperately grasp for their piece of the $80 million king crab pie.
After a long, sleepless night of baiting and setting crab pots, the fishermen anxiously await the captain's call to begin hauling them in. What's in the first pot of the season as it's pulled onto the deck sets the mood for the crew, and the questions on everyone's mind are who's got crab and where are they fishing?Some boats are ""on the crab,"" while others are ""pulling blanks."" The early losers agonize over strategy, hoping to make up for lost catch, while the winners try to figure out how to keep the crab coming. Others just want to start fishing ... One boat has broken the bin boards in its storage tank, which must be fixed before they can pull in their first pot. Every minute spent repairing broken equipment costs the crew serious money, and the greenhorns learn quickly that there's no sympathy for fatigue.
It's hour 42 of the Alaskan king crab season and every captain feels the pressure, especially since the Alaska Department of Fish and Game just announced an early closure to the season. Each boat has 24 hours to pull out the pots they have in the water — and every one of the final pots count. The fishermen either find crab today, or give up their chance at a profitable season; the results can affect these men and their families for the entire year.All of the boats in the fleet face challenges: One captain, nervous about the spot he's chosen to fish, decides to take a gamble on a new location, while another grapples with an injured crew member. And worst of all, some boats still have no crab to show despite the continuous efforts made by their captains and crew.
With less than half a day left in the Alaskan king crab season, the crews race the clock to get as much crab into the holding tanks as they can. Bad luck and mechanical malfunctions still plague some captains, who need to land a certain number of crabs just to cover their operating expenses, much less to turn a profit for the crew.As the midnight deadline marking the end of season closes in, the battle to unload begins. Boats are unloaded at the processing plants on a first-come, first-serve basis, and a couple of minutes can mean the difference between unloading immediately, or waiting in the harbor for days.
Opilio crab season is about to begin, and the forecast is glacial and dangerous. On a cold, rainy January day — when sunlight lasts just six hours — 171 boats begin the journey out of Dutch Harbor, Alaska, sailing up to 450 miles northwest of the small town in search of crab. But shortly after he leaves port, smoke and heat force one captain to surrender valuable time to turn around for repairs, only to discover that an EIRB, or emergency signal, has rung out from a sister boat. Meanwhile, gale warnings buzz over the radio, alerting captains of treacherous ice conditions — ice that, if allowed to build up on the crab pots, could capsize a boat.Finally, at noon, the Opilio crab season begins, and the fleet is forced to put their emotions aside and begin fishing.
With one boat sunk and its crew missing, several Good Samaritan boats postpone their season to comb the frigid waters of the Bering Sea for survivors. The tragic news travels fast, but captains too far away to help with the search and rescue decide to concentrate on the baiting and setting of pots. As the remaining 170 boats in the fleet turn their attention to fishing, though, tragedy strikes again. A frantic call comes in over the radio from a boat whose deckhand has fallen overboard. The reality of another death strikes a nervous chord throughout the fleet and keeps everyone on edge as they continue to chase America's deadliest catch.
Less than a day into the Opilio crab season, the Bering Sea has already claimed six lives. Despite these losses, the rest of the fleet begins to pull the pots they set 12 hours before, their hopes high. As the weather turns for the better, fishing is made easier, and for the first time this season, there is a moment of calm on the Bering Sea.
Unseasonably warm weather and calm seas have contributed to three days of record catches for the fleet. It's not all smooth sailing for one boat, however, when an electrical fire breaks out in the engine room and its crew must scramble to fix the problem before safely returning to fishing. But as the fourth day of the season gets under way, the continued high number of crabs spurs rumors of an early closure, with every captain speculating on when the quota will be met.
Eighty-four hours into the Opilio season, the hunt for crab intensifies as rumors of a possible closure prompt the men to push even harder. Some boats are so successful their captains begin wondering where to put excess crab, while others, finally hitting the "honey hole", try to make up for their slow start. But throughout the fleet crews begin to fatigue as the pending season closure drives them forward. This is the last time they will fish in a derby-style competition, and everyone wants to make their final run a memorable one.
With the deaths of the Big Valley crew, this Opilio crab season has been a rough one. On every boat, crew members are reaching their limit, but are spurred on by the pressure to catch a year's wages in the next 24 hours. As the last hours of the season tick down, a new race begins: the race back to port. Since off-loading is done on a first-come-first-serve basis, captains must decide when and where to unload their catch, competing for the best spot in line at the processor. Crab can't last forever in a boat, so a few days waiting could mean tens of thousands of dollars.
2007
The 2006 Crab season is underway in Dutch Harbor, Alaska. Fishing vessels and crews are preparing for the harsh conditions they will endure. Fierce seas, high winds, and ice build-up will make this season of Deadliest Catch…deadly.
Fishing is put on hold for boats in the area of where a fellow vessel sank, fellow fishermen search with the Coast Guard to locate survivors. Between faulty equipment and bad fishing crews are struggling with a rough start to the 2006 season.
The Bering Sea is relentless this season, claiming one life after another. The high seas are a dangerous place to work, a deckhand on board the Wizard is badly injured causing the captain to rush back to shore.
Despite the tragedies, fatigue, equipment problems, and weather the crews push on. Boats and crews are working forty hours with no sleep, making this dangerous job even more dangerous. With the Bering Sea still claiming victims crews are questioning decisions, working who will be the next victim.
The bright light at the end of the 2006 King Crab season is upon the fleet. Captains and crews muster up one final push for dropping gear, hauling pots in and getting crab off the boats.
The 2006 King Crab season has come to a close, so the Captains head back to Dutch Harbor. Despite the tragedy at sea, mechanical problems, and injuries…the fishing has been good.
As the Opilio crab season opens, several greenhorns are about to experience the subfreezing temperatures and icy winter waters of the Bering Sea for the first time.
A couple of days into the Opilio crab season a major storm system hits the fishing fleet. Forcing many captains to call their crews off their decks and even forces a few to head back to port because of breakdowns.
Forced back to port because of a blown engine, the Northwestern, a week behind is now back on the fishing grounds. Capt. Sig hopes that putting all of his gear far north will pay off.
Several greenhorns are put to the test as the Bering Sea's harsh winter weather deteriorates. The one on the Wizard is already faltering under the grueling working conditions; but the ones on the Northwestern and Cornelia Marie step up to prove their worth.
The 2007 Opilio Crab season continues to march on despite the dangerous risks faced by the fleet.
The 2007 Opilio season has been long, cold, dangerous, and filled with problems. Now, the captains and their crews hurry back to unload despite the freezing conditions, so they can cash in.
2006
Back out on the Bering Sea, the crews set sail for this round of crab fishing. With new rules and more time to fish, the stakes are still high.
With the weather calm on the Bering Sea the fleet takes full advantage. With a storm brewing out at sea, the decision to stay or run needs to be made.
With Mother Nature in full force, crews decide to stick it out in search of Alaskan Gold.
The crew of the Northwestern makes a profit at Akutan Island. They make the decision to head back out to sea in search of more King Crab.
The faith of the Aleutian Ballad is relived after being slammed by that 65 foot rouge wave. Meanwhile the crews of the other boats must endure the terrible weather conditions.
A new crab season beings and this time its the Opilio Crab season. As the crews and the ships return to Dutch Harbor in January, they prep their ships in hopes that this new season will better than the last one
With the fierce arctic storm continuing, the Time Bandit pushes through the ruff waters with a limited amount of bait. While the Rollo and the Maverick drop their posts quickly to avoid rolling into the sub-zero waters. Meanwhile, a frustrated Cornelia Marie is stuck at port and the Northwestern sticks with what works, Cod.
Fights break out on the Maverick and the Rollo, due to fact of fray nerves that is being caused by two factors, bad crabs and long days. Meanwhile the Time Bandit, despite the artic onslaught, presses northward and Sig wakes up from a short nap to find out that his ship is lost.
Fights break out on the Maverick and the Rollo, due to fact of fray nerves that is being caused by two factors, bad crabs and long days. Meanwhile the Time Bandit, despite the artic onslaught, presses northward and Sig wakes up from a short nap to find out that his ship is lost.
The freezing weather and the dangerous icing takes its toll on board the Cornelia Marie, when one of its deckhands, Dave Gilbert becomes the first victim, by falling on the deck. Also the Time Bandit atempts to navigates the northern ice pack and the Maverick must attempt a jury-rig repair of the shattered stiff arm.
The Rollo and the Maverick have off loaded their crab, a miscalculation sends a Captain into a frenzy. A race back to the crab grounds is underway to see who can bring home the crab.
The end of the Opilio season is upon the fleet, and crews push hard to bring in the last of the crab. With the crab tanks full, the next task is to make it back to port…in one piece.
2008
It's the beginning of a new king crab season and everyone's looking to cash in. Some boats are slow to start but eventually get to catching some king crab.
Everyone ships looking to get some good crab numbers this season, but the Bearing Sea won't let them off so easy. A new greenhorn for the Wizard starts falling apart after only 48 hours of working. Meamwhile the Early Dawn countines to fish for Brown King Crab.
The King crab season is well under way, but ships and people are already showing signs of weakness; The Northwestern has a mechanical breakdown, the Wizard's greenhorns are lost in the midst of work and the Cornelia Marie's captain's health is failing which greatly affects the crew.
Greenhorns, skippers, and family fishing dynasties begin to crack. On Northwestern, Sig and Edgar have a "last man standing" contest to see who can fish the longest without sleep. Time Bandit's Captain Johnathan has a brush with death.
The seas are rough and they'll only get rougher.The Time Bandit has a dangerous electrical short. On the Cornelia Marie, Phil's health deteriorates. The Early Dawn boats driving with a sleeping greenhorn at the wheel. Fights between deckhands break out on the Northwestern.
With the king crab season nearly over, everyone's feeling the pressure. Captains are pushing their boats and their crews to the breaking point.
As the King Crab season drawls to a close, a mass amounts of stinging jellyfish by catch in unfilled pots add insult to injury. The Cornelia Marie could face losing their captain for good. The crew mistakes onboard Northwestern could be costly.
As the king crab season comes to an end, a totally exhausted crew fills the Northwestern's crab tanks to the brim. Cornelia Marie has a blackout. North American does a "Hail Mary". Wizard and Time Bandit race for the "String of the Week" prize.
The Opilio season begins. A dual storm system challenges a patched Cornelia Marie and almost costs the Time Bandit two of her men. A medical emergency on one of the boats brings in the U.S. Coast Guard, but the dangerous freezing spray puts everyone's lives at risk.
A routine Coast Guard rescue becomes a battle against nature. The Cornelia Marie heads to land for repairs. Fatigue is causing mistakes on the Northwestern. On the Wizard, Greenhorn Moi locks horns with Capt. Keith. The Time Bandit heads for better grounds.
On the Time Bandit, Capt. Johnathan joins the deck crew and promptly has an injuriy while showing off his deck skills. The Northwestern crew is irritating Capt. Sig. Lenny from Wizard barely escapes a huge wave. The North American greenhorn is hazed.
Massive storm waves tear up the decks of the Early Dawn, North American, and Northwestern. On the Cornelia Marie, Capt. Phil injures his ribs and begins coughing blood, after he tossed from his bunk due to a wave hitting his boat but he won't head in for medical attention until his crew refuses to work any more.
When Capt. Phil heads for the hospital for the treatment of his spitting up blood, Murray takes command of the Cornelia Marie and struggles with his new duties. The Northwestern's crane strains to its breaking points and put the boat peril. The Wizard goes through a serious leak and Moi, the boat's greenhorn, gets the axe.
The Northwestern fights the ice pack. The Wizard sets off with tempers flaring and a new greenhorn. Phil's future on the Cornelia Marie is questionable, so the crew struggles on without their captain. The Time Bandit has a near fatal mistake and a tough choice.
The Arctic ice pack descends on the fleet as they make their final runs. Both the crews of the Northwestern and Wizard battle freezing spray. The Cornelia Marie's crew suffers from "Bering Sea dementia" while the Time Bandit's crew is at its breaking point.
As the Oppie season drawls to the end the captains race to catch the last of their remaining quotas, battling ice and equipment issues. The Time Bandit's Scottie makes a near fatal mistake working the hydraulic system. An ominous message comes across the radio as the men head for home ports.
Keith Colburn
Self
Sig Hansen
Self
2009
The 2008 King crab fleet faces huge stakes - before boats even cast off. Skippers Keith and Phil could be sidelined by life threatening illnesses and all the boats are in debt from summer repairs. A skipper is pressured to take a potentially fatal risk.
A vicious storm kicks up and a Mayday goes out. The Skippers are glued to their radios -- waiting to hear the fate of 11 brother fishermen in distress...
The fleet is still dialing into the crab, and already a typhoon has taken its toll. A boat has sunk - and bone-chilling accounts of the fate of its men relay around the fleet.
It¹s week four of King Crab Season. Seven souls have perished, but the fishermen soldier on, in the hunt for crab. Grueling hours and vicious hazing test the Greenhorns -- and some start to crack.
Crab pots still come up empty and the skippers are out of ideas. Low bait and long grinds take our crews to dark places -- the smallest infractions from a Greenhorn or fellow Deckhand cause tempers and even violence to flare.
A new deadline is set: an upcoming drop in the price of king crab has the skippers rushing to finish their season. But crew battles and a fierce arctic storm block the way.
The King Crab Season is down to the wire and skippers are desperate to top off their quotas. It's looking bleak as crews pick through bone-yards of fished out grounds. Some boats dig deep for an end of season sprint, --other boats just scrape by.
The 2008 King crab season is over with and It's the start of the 2009 Opilio Crab Season. Anything the Bering Sea held back during King Season is now being paid out in spades. The skippers have their eyes on the oncoming ice pack -- but it's a lethal, 40-foot rogue wave that's on the hunt.
In this episode the fleet arrives on the Opi Grounds and boats struggle with ice, big seas, and bad information to hunt down the crab. A skipper regrets sending his men out in savage weather to save the boat but there are no second chances on the Bering Sea.
It's week three of the Opilio Crab Season. Long hours and miserable conditions already have the crabbers turning on each other. Boat-crushing ice stands between one skipper and the safety of harbor.
After weeks battling freezing spray, forty foot waves, and sub-zero temperatures, skippers have begun plugging their boats with Opilio crab. As they race to St. Paul harbor for offload, the 250,000 square mile arctic ice pack stands in their way.
Halfway through the season, each skipper faces his own personal form of hell. Frozen crab, frozen gear, and a frozen harbor chill the hearts of the most callous of fishermen. On the Northwestern, Sig battles a fierce cigarette addiction-and a fierce storm
When the fleet gets word of great fishing by the ice pack, the chase is on to the ends of the earth! Two egos collide, when Keith and Phil fight over fishing turf. Sick of hauling mangled, barnacle-ridden crab down south, Captain Harry on the Incentive faces his fears and climbs north to frozen waters. While aboard the Northwestern, Sig pushes his crew and himself to the edge of insanity with a sleepless, 38 hour grind. Hellacious hours and missing pots-a journey to the far north will push these men over the edge.
Weeks into the Opilio Season, the fleet is bone tired and desperate for home. As delirium sets in, deadly, rib-crunching mistakes are made. But for one fisherman, a tragedy on land spells gut-wrenching, heartbreak at sea.
The Opilio season is almost over, but an arctic storm front has the skippers on edge. The boats race to plug their tanks with crab and get back to port unscathed. On the first boat to finish, a tight knit crew fractures.
It's the final 24 hours of the 2009 Opilio crab season. A savage arctic storm causes multiple vessels to send out maydays. The Coast Guard is in a race against the clock to save four men before their boat is pounded into splinters against jagged rocks.
2016
An adrenaline-packed new season brings a new face: 23 year-old Sean Dwyer –fighting for the legacy of the father he lost too soon. The Time Bandit squares off with the law, Captain Keith’s life spirals, and Sig torments his former protégé.
24-year-old Captain Sean Dwyer & crew prepare for their first crab season aboard the Brenna A. Jake Anderson fears he made a big mistake. Wild Bill handles a challenging deckhand. Keith gets support from an unlikely counselor, Johnathan Hillstrand.
Wild Bill risks his biggest lead in history to bail Josh Harris out of trouble. Sean Dwyer finds out if he has got what it takes. Veteran skipper Johnathan Hillstrand leans on his crew and a little tip from a friend to turn his season around.
Josh Harris is forced to take over the Cornelia Marie. Sean Dwyer gets his first taste of the angry sea. Greenhorns on the Cape Caution are slapped to attention. Weather, mechanical failures and inexperienced crews complicate matters across the fleet.
Jake Anderson tries a dangerous short cut with only one working engine on the boat. Casey and Josh perform surgery at sea. Edgar Hansen captains the ship while his son Eric works as greenhorn. Captain Keith turns his life around.
The season’s worst storm yet slams the fleet. Freshmen Skipper Sean Dwyer must choose between crab & a childhood friend. Wild Bill questions his son's status as a crabber & man. As injuries stack up one deckhand reveals a painful secret in his pants.
Captain Edgar Hansen is losing control of the Northwestern with a mutiny on his hands. A couple of drunk deckhands put the Saga at risk. Jonathan Hillstrand bets it all for a hopefully big end to his season and Freddie Maugatai takes honoring his skipper to the extreme.
In the final days of the fall season, a massive arctic storm blasts the fleet with hurricane-force winds and monster seas. Every captain is put to the test when they must decide how much their boats and crews can handle.
The winter crab season is here and brings with it this year's biggest storm. Every captain must decide to risk it all and head out into the storm or stay back tied to the dock losing money. However carefully they choose the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.
During the final throes of the season's first arctic storm, the captains and crews need to battle for survival. While other captains fight the weather, rookie skipper Sean Dwyer decides to wait out the storm, making his first trip of the year under blue skies.
Keith and Johnathan test the boundaries of partner fishing; Captain Jake struggles with a problematic deckhand; Zack must step up when Wild Bill gives him a shot at the helm
Sean Dwyer is forced to bring down his dad's law on a deckhand. Josh faces off against Casey, Sig's crew grind through a haul, and Keith works with his new greenhorns.
Alone on the water, days from land, the Northwestern catches fire. On the Time Bandit a family emergency forces Johnathan to make a desperate move. Josh Harris' judgment is tested.
Captain Sig and crew fight for their lives against an engine room fire 250 miles from land. Faulty hydraulics and a flying 800-pound pot make for a deadly situation on the deck of the Saga.
Blood is shed on the Time Bandit, a fight breaks out on the Wizard, the Northwestern grapples with a burnt-out boat, and a lost bet leads to cod guts on the Brenna A.
A rogue wave forces Zack to make a life or death decision. Against his co captain and crew, Josh bets on a Bering Sea myth. Giant seas roll Sean Dwyer. Sig turns to daughter Mandy for help.
Intense weather and more damage to his battered boat take a toll on Sig's heart. The USCG attempts a dangerous medevac. Bill struggles with a water leak. Jake recruits an old friend.
Sig fights to survive a massive heart attack. Bill learns a dark secret about his son. Josh fights to prove himself. Jake learns a valuable lesson. Johnathan appeals to the gods.
2010
The 2009 King crab season begins with tensions at an all time high. One deckhand threatens to quit, while another sets his pre-mature sights on the wheelhouse. When the captains gather for their annual meeting, a line is crossed.
It's week two of King Crab season and a storm looms as the fleet hauls their first crab. One greenhorn cramps up after just a few pots, while two junior deckhands are tested on unfamiliar boats. But it's the veteran deckhands that really try the skippers' patience.
It's the third week of hunting King crab and Captain Phil and Captain Sig's experiment in trading junior deckhands comes to a close. The young crew members are tested by big waves and cruel pranks until the end. Meanwhile, conflict between skippers and deckhands continues to rage unchecked.
Captain Sig and Captain Phil liaison to reclaim their junior deckhands with a high seas transfer. But when the young crew members submerge themselves in the bitter, treacherous tides - the plan quickly spins out of control.
The boats unload and head back out to top off their quotas but the fishing is poor. Captain Sig takes the Northwestern on a risky excursion to the northwest for blue king crab. The high seas are fighting everyone.
A white knuckle, boat-crippling passage stands between the Time Bandit and their final offload. A maniacal skipper continues to risk mutiny in the far northern reaches of the Bering Sea. Meanwhile, Captain Phil has to deal with an major engineering glitch that threatens Cornelia Marie's entire King crab catch.
An ice storm arrives on the winter crab grounds; skipper Phil Harris faces hefty repairs and untimely delays when the Cornelia Marie runs aground.
Ice bashing takes its toll on the fleet; an exhausted crew tries to keep up with the skipper's maniacal pace on the Northwestern.
The Coast Guard is summoned regarding a heart attack; the Time Bandit faces an emergency; the Cornelia Marie tries out difficult fishing grounds in the Bering Sea.
The Coast Guard helicopter continues an attempted a rescue in dangerous seas. The deck of the Time Bandit becomes a deadly gauntlet of heavy, falling ice chunks while on the Cornelia Marie, the skipper's son reveals a dark secret.
On the Cornelia Marie Captain Phil comes to grip with his son Jakes's drug addiction. Phil and a couple other skippers contemplate retirement and who can take charge of their legacy. Captain Sig has to deliver some hard news to a deck hand. The fleet returns to unload and is reminded that bad things happen in port too.
Josh remains behind to handle affairs on the Cornelia Marie as Captain Phil is medevaced to Anchorage. Captain Andy starts training Mike as relief captain, to the jealousy of the other deckhands. Word of Phil's stroke begins to reach the other captains, sending shockwaves through the fleet.
Drama dominates the crews of the fleet during the mid-season grind. Jake and Josh Harris suffer a new falling-out with their father's life hanging in the balance.
A power struggle for the captain's chair erupts between Mike and Scott on the Time Bandit; Edgar Hansen schools his greenest deckhand; ominous weather awaits the fleet while Phil Harris fights for his life.
Captain Phil Harris loses his battle for life while the boats - unaware of the news - battle the biggest storm of the season. Eventually, eldest son Josh breaks the news to the fleet and reactions are intense and unforgettable.
Saluting Capt. Phil Harris, who died on Feb. 9, 2010.
Tension runs high on the Northwestern, as Edgar Hansen is fed up with the 22 year marathon of pain, confronts his older brother Sig. Josh Harris returns to the Cornelia Marie and the Opilio Season ends with a harrowing mayday.
2011
Fresh blood join the crab fleet as the 2010 crab season begins; new skippers are Scott Campbell Jr. on the Seabrooke and Elliot Neese on the Ramblin' Rose.
Across the Bering Sea crab fleet, bad fishing causes high tensions and low morale as empty pots whittle away profits and nerves among the men
Jake Harris gets a sink-or-swim lesson on driving the Cornelia Marie as danger strikes the Wizard when a crew member gets caught in the line.
A serious injury forces a crew member to his bunk after the crane breaks on the Kodiak, while the Seabrooke's greenhorn has a mental breakdown.
A deckhand falls asleep at the wheel and sends the boat towards a fleet of vessels.
In the midst of a rough King Crab season, a mutiny transpires on the Cornelia Marie while mental and physical breakdowns plague the crew of the Kodiak.
The police are called in after a confrontation on the Cornelia Marie while an injury onboard the Ramblin' Rose causes the rookie skipper to have a change of heart.
The King Crab Season closes with a fierce arctic storm, a spectacular prank on the Northwestern by the crew of the Time Bandit and the departure of one of the fleet's most revered fishermen.
Massive change strikes every returning boat as Opilio season begins. Edgar finally says farewell to the Northwestern, a new captain boards the Cornelia Marie and the entire fleet is shut down by an epic arctic storm.
The fleet battles a devastating arctic hurricane as the focus shifts from fishing to survival; the captains consider drastic measures as the ice and injuries pile up.
A crewman's nose gets broken on the Northwestern; the Ramblin' Rose takes a gamble as a winter storm rips through the crab-fishing grounds; danger at the dock for the Time Bandit.
A loose pot causes havoc on the Kodiak; a Seabrooke crewman is nearly crushed by ice and the new skipper of the Cornelia Marie courts mutiny when his new string comes up lean.
A captain and deckhand clash on the Cornelia Marie over a crippling lack of bait, while skipper Elliott Neese attempts to fix a possible season-ending breakdown and the Time Bandit's soft-spoken greenhorn goes to the Hillstrands' Pirate School.
Offloading crab in the treacherous waters off St. Paul island proves a daunting task as a harbor surge snaps lines on the Wizard and the Seabrooke loses a crew member.
As the Opilio season winds down exhaustion causes tempers to boil over on the Time Bandit; the skippers of the Seabrooke and the Cornelia Marie both suffer injuries.
The Seabrooke captain fights a painful illness; the Cornelia Marie returns from what could be its final season as the Harris brothers mull over who will run the boat and the Northwestern exacts some revenge.
2022
When the government closes the king crab fishery, captains must save an industry they worked to create. Plus, Sig pursues invasive Russian king crab in Norway.
Captain Sig suddenly loses power as he battles to launch his new Norwegian fishing operation. Plus, Captain Rip Carlton races to save an injured deckhand.
Captain Rip heads into an Arctic storm to attempt the riskiest helicopter rescue in recent history. Plus, John fights to save the Time Bandit at anchor.
A deckhand who thinks he knows more than Captain Sig fights for his life tangled in a potline. Wild Bill struggles to save his vessel from impacting the jagged fjords.
In the extreme north of Norway, Sig risks dropping pots on the Russian line. As water floods the Saga's engine room, Jake scrambles to save his boat and his niece. Josh and Casey call in an undeserved favor from Johnathan as canneries close their doors.
Sig scrambles to get home for Bairdi and Mandy's baby as his crew finds a honey hole of Russian King Crab. Josh's brother Shane gets caught in the bight as a typhoon slams the Cornelia Marie. Rip faces a crisis when a greenhorn collapses unconscious.
Johnathan searches for a pot of Golden Kings at the end of a double rainbow. A medical mystery confounds Captain Rip when his greenhorn regains consciousness on the Patricia Lee. Keith partners with Josh and Casey until John steps in.
Johnathan pulls an unknown species with mile-deep commercial crab pots. Jake's niece gets injured on the Saga and Clark takes the helm in Sig's wheelhouse.
Mandy's pregnancy complication forces Sig and Clark to reconsider their stand. Jake and Rip team up in deep waters to battle powerful Aleutian tidal currents.
Jake hits pay dirt taking his niece to an ancestor's fishing grounds, but after a crewman leaves a hatch open, their prized black cod escape by the hundreds. When the Time Bandit ventures into freshwater, Johnathan risks killing his entire live catch.
With dock prices spiking, the fleet races to deliver. Jake witnesses a freighter severing his longline, forcing the Saga crew to drag the bottom for a valuable string of pots. Rip helps Johnathan locate the motherlode only to pay with a broken block.
In an epic Fall season finale, Clark scuttles Sig's partnership with Harley to get home for the birth of his and Mandy's baby. An orca leads the Cornelia Marie to the season's best pots. When John's autopilot fails, Jake is the star that leads him home.
In the Winter premiere, nautical weather slams the fleet as Josh and Casey race north in hopes of beating the coming ice pack. Sig and Keith attempt to find common ground, and on the Time Bandit, Johnathan finds his co-captain a bit wobbly. 300th episode.
The Northwestern has a risky encounter with a bald eagle. Josh and Casey place a bet on a hard-to-find quota, while casualties mount on the Patty.
New-mother Mandy returns to Sig's wheelhouse, but as heavy ice builds on the Northwestern, she reckons with the risks the family is taking; Jake unveils a new super pot to stake his claim in the cod derby as winter weather blindsides the fleet.
Sig is forced to jettison pots lest he capsizes the Northwestern; Jake and the Saga hit bottom; Sean Dwyer devises creative motivation for his greenhorns.
Keith recruits Johnathan to intercept a Russian trawler fishing illegally in US waters but the situation intensifies when the Time Bandit crew spots a missile streaking across their position. Bill and Sean fight to defend their pots from rogue trawlers.
Josh and Casey race to the approaching ice edge as an Aleutian storm slams the opilio grounds. Jake discovers his niece and engineer have been hooking up more than crab gear as they risk life and limb climbing the 30ft crane to make a critical repair.
The Cornelia Marie crashes into the ice pack when the greenhorn on watch falls asleep at the wheel; Jake's crew experiences a stunning phenomenon when a flock of seabirds bombards the Saga; Wild Bill tackles an unsafe sea state on the Summer Bay.
After risking his crew salvaging gear from the ice pack, Sig changes tactics deploying an experimental bait from Norway. On the Time Bandit, frustration boils over as Freddy tests Johnathan. Jake hauls in seas so volatile his crew must take shelter.
With intense currents holding back the Arctic ice pack, Keith drives into deck-wrecking waves to retrieve his catch before the ice bounces back. Jake and Sean face losing everything when ice swallows their gear as Rip enters a pot cemetery of his own.
The icy depths of the Bering Sea threaten to claim Sig and Wild Bill's gear unless they can move quickly enough to beat the rapidly freezing waters; Rip take on a massive amount of extra quota, and if he can't catch it, he'll have to buy it.
As ice blocks St. Paul Harbor, captains race to deliver their final snow crab. Sig deploys a risky tactic his father pioneered, while Jake battles a slack tank to save the Saga. Keith and John scuttle a plan as the Wizard's 77-year-old hull cracks open.
2023
In the season premiere, a young generation ventures to the Bering Sea forging unlikely wheelhouse alliances across the fleet. But as high prices draw illegal foreign boats, captains young and old must band together to defend America's prized crab grounds.
Sig gets tough news at sea forcing the Hansens to make a critical decision as John and Andy lend a hand. With wheelhouse ambitions, Jacob hits a wall with Keith on the Wizard. New captain Jack crosses a line when Harley makes a deal with Jake.
Sig buries his beloved mother and the last of his family's pioneering generation. Sean Dwyer joins forces with Rick Shelford but the two captains don't see eye to eye on rules. Jacob fights back on the Wizard and finds no safe harbor from Captain Keith.
A new deckhand falls ill on the Time Bandit, raising questions for Andy and warning signs for John. A bait pallet breaks loose, forcing Captain Rick to deal with a severe crew injury. When Wild Bill's plan A fails on the Summer Bay, Maria tries plan P.
Sig returns from his mother's funeral only to find his gear in harm's way; Rick and Keith forge a beneficial partnership; Jack makes his first offload as captain; The Coast Guard gets a call to extract a sailor with broken legs 200 miles out to sea.
When Sig and Mandy disagree on a fishing strategy, Clark is caught in the middle. Wild Bill comes down hard on deckhands as Linda gets too close to danger. Keith pulls the Wizard alongside the Saga and unleashes unexpected bad blood.
On the Saga, Sean Dwyer joins Jake for a high-risk trek west to Adak Island. Rick attempts a dangerous shortcut through the treacherous tides of Unimak Pass. Sig’s deckhand Lauritz takes a brutal fall while Johnathan bids farewell to a lifelong friend.
As a storm of continental proportions batters the fleet, John and Andy battle to save their anchor and the boat. Rick navigates stormy seas and feuding deckhands. An orca befriends the Northwestern; Sig and Mandy see a sign of life until it stops them from fishing.
With a storm threatening his record-breaking run, Johnathan allies with Keith to triangulate the crab; Jack braves treacherous tidal currents, staking his redemption on loaded pots; in 30-foot waves, chaos strikes the Wizard.
An early closure forces captains to work together to get their catch safely to port; Sig crosses a line when he repositions a rookie captain's pots; Jake and Sean race back from Adak while Linda bolsters her east coast reputation in the Bering Sea.
In the winter premiere, Johnathan hunts for crab in a secret location to which he's won exclusive rights. Sig tries his luck at a derby fishery. Keith risks an at-sea deckhand transfer, and Bob joins a fisherman's strike for higher crab prices.
Captain Keith eagerly repositions his pots when Johnathan makes an offer he simply can't refuse. Bob follows a pod of porpoises to her first big solo haul. Fired from the Wizard, Jacob chases his dream of becoming a captain to a wholly different boat.
Bob's breakout haul as a solo captain takes a turn when another vessel collides with the boat she inherited from her late parents. Cascading engine failures put Sig in a tough spot as the Coast Guard makes a surprise inspection.
With $1 million in crab at stake, the Wizard battles unrelenting 30-footers; Jake faces a devil's bargain to aid another captain, but the high road may come at a cost; Sig fights to eke out a profit; the Kodiak crew assesses the damage.
Winter unleashes its fury, slamming the fleet with tidal surges and waves; when Keith's winch seizes, the Wizard crew must work a double shift to retrieve pots; Wild Bill's erroneous chart leaves the Summer Bay beached on a sandbar.
When a deckhand suffers a possible heart attack on board, Keith goes into emergency mode, attempting to save his crewman's life. An explosion rocks the Time Bandit, burning Freddy and shaking Johnathan to his core. Facing capsizing, Jake must dump pots.
When Sig loses GPS navigation in crowded waters, Mandy must work a decades-old magnetic compass with no margin for error. OJ’s replacement on the Wizard makes a misfit crew a bit more awkward. Bob’s Bairdi haul earns her bragging rights.
On the Time Bandit, crew conflict in winter weather puts Johnathan's leadership to the test; Sig and Mandy risk a heavy fine chasing the biomass along a boundary line; Jake struggles with managing an injury-prone crew member.
As a monumental king tide amplifies the sea state, Johnathan drives the Time Bandit into towering waves to haul the riskiest set of his career; Jake faces a potentially unstoppable magnesium fire; Sig deploys evasive maneuvers to defend his catch.
Hampered by damage, Sig must outmaneuver an unknown captain to hold on to his ground; Jake allies with Wild Bill to make a critical deadline -- but when Bill calls in a favor, time runs short; Rick devises a strategy to ensure Jacob makes it home.
In the penultimate episode of Season 19, Johnathan scrambles to save his pots from a Bering Sea grave. Sig revives a decades-old fishing computer to find a Bairdi hotspot, while Jake's manpower shortage forces him to put his niece on the hydraulics.
In the Season 19 finale, an uncharacteristic error traps Sig's family in unsurvivable seas; a wayward crane breaches Jake's wheelhouse, killing critical systems and his way home; Rick attempts to turn a tragedy into a triumph for Jacob.
2014
A government shutdown shortens the season and starts off a chain reaction that forces the fleet to fish harder and faster to make the market deadline. One boat goes up in flames and many are left to wonder if this is really the life they wished for.
Two weeks into the King Crab season the fleet is already behind due to the government shutdown and, now, a massive Arctic storm. A harrowing Coast Guard airlift must abort as 100-knot winds whip over the fishing grounds.
After a storm shuts down the fleet, an even more severe weather system hits them again. While the captains do their best to stay the course, greenhorn problems, mechanical malfunctions and bad fishing conspire to shake their resolve.
The King fleet grows desperate as it hurtles towards the finish line and the Wizard's fishing strategy lands them on the wrong side of the law.
As crews prepare to head to the Bairdi grounds, a mayday call from a sinking ship prompts a dramatic at-sea rescue. On the Cape Caution, Bill's greenhorn is looking for a way out, while Edgar on the Northwestern takes a big risk at his first time as captain.
With one captain in the hospital and another on a bender, fishing has come to a halt on two boats. Out at sea an alleged felon is trapped, a boat goes dark, and on the Time Bandit... well, Captain Johnathan just wants to be young again.
One captain faces what might spell the end of a storied career while another struggles to check into rehab. Problems on land pale in comparison to those on the Bering Sea where the brave men and women of the United States Coast Guard lose one of their own.
Opilio season kicks off with the return of the Cornelia Marie. After a 3-year struggle, Josh Harris brought back the boat that helped make his old man a legend. 18-year-old Mandy Hansen arrives to convince her father Sig to take her fishing.
Blood is spilled on the Cape Caution, when a brutal storm rips across the Bering Sea. Rookie boat owner, Josh Harris swallows his pride. Captain Sig fights to keep the Northwestern from going up in flames and captain Keith battles boat-sinking ice.
In Dutch, Sig welcomes their newest greenhorn: his daughter. After four generations of Hansen fishermen, the next in line is a woman. In high seas, a major hydraulic leak on the Time Bandit primes the engine room to blow.
While the rest of the fleet have their doubts about a woman's place on a crab boat, the Northwestern crew must train their new recruit: Sig's 18-year-old daughter, Mandy Hansen.
As the wintery Opilio season roars on, Sig puts Mandy at the helm in boat-crushing seas. Josh Harris struggles quash a rebellion. Elliott’s new girlfriend arrives (much to his crew’s chagrin). Zack Larson feels Wild Bill’s wrath.
It's Super Bowl Sunday on the Bering Sea. The Cornelia Marie battles 20-foot breakers in St. Paul, a blown prop on the Time Bandit causes a rift that pulls the Hillstrand apart and "Wild" Bill takes his deck boss to task.
Sig orders a classic Northwestern grind; Mandy learns the true meaning of being a greenhorn; Captain Andy faces a difficult decision.
Crews struggle to keep their cool; a saboteur wants to end the season early for the Cape Caution; Josh and Casey fight to control the crew; a long lost Hillstrand returns.
An arctic hurricane strikes the fleet; the Cornelia Marie fights sinking; the Time Bandit sees bloodshed; the Northwestern needs repairs.
2013
It's October in Dutch Harbor, Alaska, and after a devastating 2011 Opilio season, every ship in the fleet — including two new boats — is looking to make a comeback in the 2012 King Crab season. But it won't be easy for any of them.
Keith and Junior form an alliance, but will it last? The Northwestern crew knocks out their rocky string but then faces a surprise challenge. Elliott finally debuts his new boat on the dangerous blue crab grounds.
On the blue crab grounds, brutal competition leads to more deceit amongst the captains. Serious injuries plague the fleet, and Junior's betrayal of his alliance with Keith comes back to haunt him with potentially lethal consequences.
On the crowded blue crab grounds, a high seas showdown between the Saga and Seabrooke takes an unexpected turn. On the Northwestern, Captain Sig must make a tough decision about his brother’s future, while the Time Bandit has a close call in False Pass.
Five weeks into the king crab season, change is in the air and on the Bering Sea. Big moves are made on some boats while it's the same old story on others. Still, the hunt for the elusive blue crab is on everyone's radar.
On the Northwestern, Jake's dark secret sets off a fistfight that throws Edgar's new captaincy into jeopardy. Tempers flare on the Saga and Seabrooke when Elliott grows wise to Junior's devious ways.
As King Crab season comes to an end, life-changing decisions must be made. The captains of the fleet pull up their last pots while young Jake Anderson struggles with his decision to leave the Northwestern, and Josh Harris plots to buy his father's old boat.
Chaos kicks off the 2013 Opilio season as these gladiators of the Bering Sea lace up for their biggest money season. An accident on the Time Bandit has the crew racing for shore, and Jake Anderson gets a not-so-warm welcome aboard his new boat, the Kiska Sea.
A massive storm causes headaches for the captainsA Category 4 storm has landed on the fleet two weeks into the Opilio Crab Season. As the first pots come aboard, some captains are dialed into the crab while others are off their scent — but they're all struggling to stay afloat.
Survival is the name of the game as the fleet battles their way through a ferocious arctic storm. Junior takes a huge risk in order to get back in the game; two greenhorns struggle to fit in with their crews; and Elliott’s problems on land continue.
The fleet's weathered the storm, but the crabs are still off the bite. Desperate to make their offload dates the captains mercilessly grind their crews. Not making any money, the deckhands start to get sick of being bullied.
The crews and battered boats are feeling the brunt of one of the hardest Opilio seasons on record. While some crew members battle potentially catastrophic breakdowns to stay on the grounds and keep fishing, others throw in the towel and call it quits.
Midway through the winter crab season and the Bering Sea is taking its toll on the boats and the men. The northern-most boats are in a race to save their gear as the polar ice pack descends on the fishing grounds.
With only three weeks left in Opilio season, the fleet prepares to make the final push to wrap up their seasons. Captains battle weather, equipment and their own men in a sprint to the finish, but nothing comes easy.
After enduring months of mechanical breakdowns, sleepless grinds and infighting, the fleet is starting to crack. And when deckhands on the Wizard are unable to lasso a floating walrus carcass, one man takes matters into his own hands.
The younger generation is put to the test as the fleet races to finish a grueling Opilio season. As defiance on the Wizard turns brother against brother, an accident brings one crabber's career to a gruesome end.
2012
A slashed crab quota has captains reeling before the boats hit the water. With the fleet set to fight over half the catch, each skipper is forced to decide: roll the dice on the depleted Red grounds or risk it all to hunt for the elusive Blue crab.
With the fleet split, a tale of two fisheries emerges. On the Blue grounds, a captains' bet has the boats jockeying for position. On the Red grounds, a returning veteran quickly proves his worth, while another boat copes with a fallen deckhand.
As the fleet grinds through injuries and mental mistakes, the Bering Sea exposes soft spots and weak links in each crew. While the skippers wonder which deckhands have the right stuff, the Time Bandit says goodbye to a crewmate who never made it back.
Halfway through the King crab gauntlet, the beaten-down crews must dig deep to get over the midseason hump. As the crab counts dwindle and the weak fall by the wayside, the skippers give their youngest deckhands a choice: step up or step off.
Past the halfway point of the King Crab season, man and machine alike show signs of wear under the brutal hand of the Bering Sea. While repairs can be made to the equipment, the fishermen must dig deep to soldier on in a place where nature rules.
As king crab season nears the finish line, the crew of The Wizard faces a life or death situation as a deckhand collapses and struggles to hold on. Catching crab suddenly becomes secondary to a fight for survival on the harsh Bering Sea.
In a scramble to help their collapsed greenhorn, the Wizard crew calls in a Coast Guard helicopter. For the rest of the fleet, it's a race to haul crab before a hurricane hits, and the last boat fishing waits too long to leave the grounds.
In the aftermath of an arctic hurricane, the fleet struggles to reach the finish line of a brutal king crab season. Poor fishing and quarreling crews make this final push a painful one for every man on the Bering Sea.
It's winter in Dutch Harbor and the fleet prepares to hunt Opilio crab. The season looks promising with the quota up and the price high, but tensions rise before the lines are thrown as one deckhand quits, two brothers fight and one goes overboard.
With unrelenting northerly winds bearing down on the fleet, every skipper steels himself for battle with the descending polar ice pack. And as temperatures drop on the grounds, tempers on deck flare up.
Across the fleet, captains battle the descending polar ice pack to save their pots, and it's a losing war. The Northwestern and Wizard struggle to escape St. Paul harbor, while the rest of the fleet scrambles to keep their opilio season alive.
The polar ice pack invades the opilio crab grounds, forcing the captains to make a decision: grab their gear and run, or keep fishing and fight the floes. Two deckhands fall victim to an ice assault; a captain's troubles are compounded by a call home.
The ice pack has a choke hold on the Bering Sea opilio grounds. Nearly iced up, captains across the fleet must make the call to stay or go. Some run from the ice, and others stay to battle the elements for the hope of a record-breaking payday.
One of the worst icing events in history recedes making it possible for some of the boats to return. One boat suffers a total blackout while navigating an iceberg minefield, Elliott gets a rude awakening and a greenhorn learns a deadly lesson.
Two brothers find themselves in the same dire situation that sunk their father's boat. After a midseason hiatus, the fleet returns to the Bearing Sea, but the ice is back and worse than before. Now the skippers could get pushed past their breaking points.
In this special two-hour close to a merciless opilio season, a veteran deckhand pays for a mistake in flesh. Then in the final hours some men rise and some men fall, but not everyone will make it home.
2018
Sig and Jake have a massive falling out, leading to new strategies and new alliances. Josh Harris returns to captain his father's boat. Sean plays dirty, but Wild Bill shows him he's messing with the wrong Captain. With big rewards, come big risks.
Bering Sea draws first blood in a daring Coast Guard rescue. Jake strives to become an independent Captain, and Keith offers to take him on as an apprentice, but accusations fly and suspicions grow as the captains plunge head first into a brutal start.
Wild Bill risks it all on a new bait and fish strategy hoping it will pay off big. Sean and Casey forge an alliance, but when one strikes crab, will he betray it? A dangerous mistake jeopardizes Jake's offload.The Cornelia Marie is whipped by bad weather.
Sig takes heads off the grid on a daring midnight mission to shake his rivals. The Cornelia Marie pays the price for a rotten alliance, and an injured deckhand could force the boat in early. Keith gets big news from his doctor on a mystery illness.
As a flooding collision void threatens to sink him, Keith fights to keep the Wizard afloat. A missing boat part leaves Jake stranded at sea. Sig gets ready to pass the torch to Edgar, but the brotherly tension rises when he can't give up the reins.
A massive arctic hurricane hits the fleet with high winds and big waves. On the Saga, an unstable stack threatens to capsize the boat. Wild Bill risks driving straight into the storm to catch his quota, while the other captains rush to pull and set pots before harboring.
Jake makes a devil's bargain, huge crab for hidden perils, until his boat itself is on the line. Sig serves cold justice at sea, while Wild Bill chases a King Crab jackpot.The Cornelia Marie crew learns when you bet on a boat, the house always wins
On the brink of failure, Josh Harris discovers secret fishing grounds in his late father's logbooks. A deck mishap on the Saga could end Jake's season. The Coast Guard braves pitching seas in an attempt to hoist an injured sailor from inside a ship's tank
Keith is forced to hand over the Wizard. Josh fights for the helm despite a bad showing. Major engine trouble threatens Wild Bill's season.
A massive tidal surge threatens Josh and Monte as they chase their bounty deep into an arctic storm. Wild Bill hopes to get his broken boat off the dock. The rest of the fleet arrives for the start of Opilio.
A blackout leaves the Saga close to disaster in unfamiliar waters. Unwilling to partner, Josh must fill his quota single-handedly. Keith makes an offer only a captain could refuse.
Winter season unleashes 40 knot winds & 20 foot waves. As accidents plague crews, the Bering Sea singles out one greenhorn for the worst. Strategy is critical with the crab on the move, and tension between Wizard co-captains reaches a breaking point.
It's baptism by fire aboard the Northwestern as Mandy takes her 1st shift in heavy seas. The Wizard crew battles over one crewman who isn't pulling his weight on deck. Caught short on bait gear & battered by high seas, Wild Bill changes his strategy.
A 150 year supermoon storm wreaks havoc on tides, churning undersea currents that rip pots right off their lines. The Coast Guard attempts a rescue mission in the heart of the storm, while Wild Bill faces his worst nightmare.
A greenhorn's life hangs in the balance as the Summer Bay crew scrambles to steal one of their own from the Sea's icy grip. Saga and Cornelia Marie battle colossal waves of the supermoon storm, while Mandy tackles her first haul in extreme weather.
Sig pushes Mandy to invade the Cornelia Marie's ground. As the Cornelia Marie's pots get tangled with the Northwestern's, Casey takes extreme measures to defend his turf. A Saga distress signal sends panic across the fleet.
A severe arctic gale batters the fleet, forcing captains to fight extreme wind and waves. For the second time, a greenhorn's life hangs in the balance on the Summer Bay. The Saga crew seeks shelter at St. Paul, where tidal forces snap Jake's anchor.
As rogue waves threaten to capsize their boats, Jake and Sean must make life or death decisions for their crews on deck. Wild Bill faces a choice that could end his career, and Keith returns to the Wizard put an unexpected end to his brother's rule.
Captains take on the steepest waves yet in an epic final surge to hit their quotas; Jake fights through a debilitating crew injury on deck; Josh gambles big on his crab count; engine failure leaves Sig dead in the water.
2017
The crabs have vanished, which ignites a grueling hunt to save the fleet's way of life. Captain Sig returns to the helm after a major heart attack. Wild Bill debuts his own brand new boat in a crisis season. A rescue is attempted for a heart attack victim.
The fall season begins with some uncertainty. A seismic shift in sea temperature sends the fleet searching for displaced crab and then they must fight through an unseasonably large first storm.
Rising sea temperatures test the fleet. Toxic smoke engulfs the Saga. Sean struggles to save the family business on the Brenna A. Wild Bill fears he could lose Nick to a terminal illness.
Wild Bill uncovers the truth about Nick McGlashan's terminal illness. A damaging mechanical issue threatens to crush Jake's future. Warming seas force Keith into the unknown.
Johnathan and Andy Hillstrand fish together for the last time. Keith's inattentive crew sends the Wizard on a collision course. A belligerent deckhand tests Jake's resolve as captain.
A massive leak fills the Time Bandit. A fistfight tests Jake's resolve while heavy winds and a snapped anchor threaten to wreck his boat. Sig's greenhorn has an awkward question.
A big decision weighs on Sig Hansen. Rookie captain Sean Dwyer gambles on a new venture with a new crew. Jake Anderson struggles to replace a lost anchor before his quota is taken away.
The last moments of the fall season bring its biggest storm. Wild Bill struggles to pilot his new boat in big seas. Johnathan faces off with a massive swell in the perilous False Pass.
Competition doubles when the quota is cut in half. Three captains arrive early for the winter season, but Johnathan goes one step further and plots a dangerous, 600-mile course to Russia.
Sig returns to the season that nearly killed him. After a tough start, Keith and son struggle to prove themselves. Wild Bill gives Nick McGlashan a second chance. Jake lets go of a friend.
When the Arctic opens up its winter wrath, the first of multiple back-to-back hurricanes descend on the fleet. Spotty fishing and mutiny also converge to create the perfect storm.
An Arctic mega-storm rocks the fleet. Sig plays cat-and-mouse with towering waves. Keith watches an 800-pound crab pot launch into a deckhand's spine. Wild Bill fights for a comeback.
Sig's stress takes a toll. Sean tries to dock in a hurricane. Keith is left dead-stick in massive seas. Jake motivates a defiant hand. Johnathan rolls the dice by Russia.
Sig, Johnathan and Jake attempt to run from a second arctic hurricane, but Keith refuses to heed the warnings. Stress-induced chest pains threaten the remainder of Sig's season.
After suffering chest pains, Sig awaits news in the hospital. Wild Bill struggles to stay out of harm's way while also handling dissention on deck. Sean lays down the law with Zack.
Sean is set on a collision course with another boat, two deckhands get taken down on the Wizard, and Jake almost loses a deckhand.
Two old friends race to finish their seasons, but one hopes to cap a storied career; Johnathan Hillstrand wants to bid farewell in a blaze of glory.
The U.S. Coast Guard desperately scours the Bering Sea for a missing crab vessel, while the fleet anxiously waits to discover the fate of its six-man crew. After a plea from his wife, Sig contemplates an early exit.
In the wake of the Destination tragedy one last storm bears down on Edgar, Bill, Sean and Jake. The Coast Guard attempts to save the crew of a fishing vessel while their boat is taking on water.
2019
Hours before king season, a huge new boat with a renegade captain finds the crab are all in one spot. The fleet races to find the hoard and fight for their share.
Atop the king crab super swarm, full pots boil over into conflict as young guns Sean and Jake join forces to set down Sig. Keith and Harley reignite a decades old rivalry, and Sean faces the long arm of Alaska law when crab in his tank come up short.
In storm-driven seas, Cornelia Marie's crane goes off the rails; Sig risks navigating a rocky passage in treacherous conditions, and the Wizard crew face a rogue wave without warning.
A freak accident strikes the Northwestern with Mandy alone at the helm. Josh charts a new course on the Cornelia Marie while Casey sleeps. Lights go out on the Wizard, and Harley's launcher snaps at the worst moment.
In the biggest storm of the season, Jake faces a life-or-death decision when a shifting stack threatens to capsize the Saga. Sig and Mandy haul through angry seas, while Josh and Casey gamble on quota but find there's more on the line than numbers.
The Bering Sea takes a toll on captains and crew. Wild Bill calls the Cornelia for help. Jake confronts a disorderly crew, forcing his toughest decision yet as captain. Josh mans the helm as Casey makes a risky ship-to-ship transfer in high seas.
The coldest weather in nearly a decade threatens to crush hulls and freeze the sea. Monte must fill his tanks fast to get home to his ailing father, while a shocking mishap leaves a Hansen family member grasping for life.
As winter intensifies, Sean faces an engine room fire. Summer Bay deck boss suffers a season-threatening injury. Harley offers a newfound nephew a trial run at greenhorn. Monte races to fill Wizard's quota so Keith can say farewell to their father.
Josh and Casey risk a 500 mile trek north to the icy Russian line. Jake tracks his own fast-moving crab horde. Sig does double duty on the Northwestern. The Bering sea cracks the Wizard's steel hull as the Colburns face the loss of their dad.
Josh and Casey haul in their biggest pots ever, starting a gold rush to the Russian line. Captain Bill gets some inside intel, while Harvey confirms the numbers his own way. As Arctic Storm Elsa strengthens, the fleet realizes the ice queen casts a deadly spell.
The wrath of Arctic Storm Elsa hits the Cornelia hardest as a breakaway pot thrashes Josh and Casey's crew; Capt. Keith orders deckhands onto the stack as Elsa's icy blasts threaten to capsize the Wizard; the Saga takes a rogue wave.
As arctic super-storm Elsa intensifies, a forecast warns of isolated waves of unusual size; trapped in the crab-rich northern grounds, the Cornelia Marie, Wizard and Southern Wind haul pots as big as the waves, until one boat faces a 60-foot monster.
In storm-driven seas, Cornelia Marie's crane goes off the rails, smashing Josh and Casey's wheelhouse and injuring deckhand Taylor; Sig risks navigating a rocky passage in treacherous conditions, and the Wizard crew face a rogue wave without warning.
Deckhands pay in blood as captains make up for time lost to the storm; on the Cornelia Marie, Josh takes the wheel as Casey conducts surgery at sea; Brenna A tests the mettle of a former Marine; a call from home has Sig facing a worst-case scenario.
The fleet battles a freight train of back to back storms. Sig's crew pays a price for some stuffed pots and Harley risks his gear to cash in on an elusive crab hoard under the ice. Freddy attempts to perform self surgery on the Wizard and on the Summer Bay the crew gets news on Nick's future.
Monte returns to co-captain the Wizard just as massive storms slam the fleet from the south. Jake risks hauling his pots in 30 foot seas to return to his family. Wild Bill goes farther north into the icy Arctic than any other boat in the fleet.
As the crab become harder to find, veterans Sig Hansen and "Harley" Davidson form an unusual alliance, however trust doesn't come easy for old school captains. Freddy pays a price for Keith's decision to haul in rough seas and Jake tempts fate to become a boat owner.
As smoke starts to fill the Wizard, Keith and Monte face a dark ship nightmare. Massive breakers shatter Jake's steel anchor forcing him to fight to avoid the rocks of St. Paul Island. Battered by relentless seas, Sig turns to his family to fill the Northwestern's tanks.
The bone-breaking winter unleashes fury on the Summer Bay. A rookie mistake leaves Captain Bill short a hand. Jake hits the jackpot at sea, but forces on land cost him dearly. There's hell to pay when Sean discovers the fatal flaw in his crab count.
Each captain’s next move determines who survives the final winter push. Winds put the Wizard on a collision course with a monster wave. Jake taps a Hillstrand to save the Saga. Josh and Casey hit numbers not seen since Josh’s father, Phil Harris, was captain of the Corneila Marie.
In the season finale, with just ten pots to go, a crushing injury requires Coast Guard rescue. Josh and Casey face a huge loss when their offload gets cancelled. Sig gambles on an early finish, while Monte hauls more crab than the Wizard can hold.
2015
A 12-million pound Bairdi quota increase causes a fishing frenzy. A boat is stolen on the eve of a launch. An alliance takes root.
The fleet goes into a fishing frenzy for additional millions. The Time Bandit and Wizard bury the hatchet. Josh learns a difficult lesson.
A fire threatens the Cornelia Marie. Keith has a showdown with his crew on the Wizard. Sig receives a shocking surprise aboard the Northwestern.
With Super-Typhoon Nuri closing in, the captains make hard choices to save the seasons. The Northwestern charges into the storm, Cape Caution retreats, and the Wizard gets a replacement deckhand.
The fishing grounds are engulfed by the typhoon. Josh's weaknesses are exposed. Captain Sig loses control of the Northwestern. Elliott steps down.
With a higher king crab quota than any other captain, Elliott Neese bids farewell. Jake Anderson struggles to fill Edgar's shoes.
Jake gets a Whiplash-style captaining lesson from Sig. A prank threatens Captain Johnathan's catch on the Time Bandit. Josh must hit below the belt.
King Crab season draws to a close. Casey forces Josh to fish at full throttle on the Cornelia Marie. Jake takes another turn at the wheel on the Northwestern. Wild Bill turns up the heat on the Coast Guard.
Christmas at sea for the Time Bandit is disturbed when an unhinged deckhand terrorizes the crew. Jake Anderson awaits the birth of his baby, when an unexpected phone call throws a wrench in the plan.
Three boats hit the grounds early. Johnathan struggles with a rogue deckhand. Jake prepares for the birth of his baby. An explosion causes doubt about Zack's dedication.
The remainder of the fleet arrives in Dutch Harbor. Jake prepares to captain the Saga for the first time. Andy finds the Time Bandit in disarray. Keith's new greenhorn turns heads.
The most menacing storm of opilio season moves in on the fleet. A rogue wave terrorizes the Cape Caution, ripping steel and timber. The Wizard crew races to plug a gushing leak. The Saga, captained by Jake Anderson, is nearly capsized by a 40-foot wave.
A 600 mile wide storm continues to batter the fleet. Rookie skippers Jake Anderson and Josh Harris struggle to keep their heads above water while veteran captains Andy Hillstrand and Sig Hansen charge straight into the heart of the tempest.
As a second major storm slams the fleet, Rookie skipper Jake Anderson reaches out to Sig Hansen for help. Josh Harris arrives on the grounds weeks late. Captain Keith Colburn and Wild Bill Wichrowski struggle to keep their greenhorns in the game.
Late into Opilio season, the fleet battles mental and physical breakdowns. After deliberately defying Sig, Captain Jake Anderson has a shot at redemption. Captain Keith props up one ailing greenhorn after another. Wild Bill must decide to call the Coast Guard for a medevac.
Superbowl Sunday & the Bering Sea: The Cornelia Marie hatches a scheme to watch the Seahawks play. An injured crewman jeopardizes Captain Keith Coburn's plan on the Wizard. The Cape Caution crew makes a near fatal error. The Time Bandit loses a Captain.
The polar ice pack descends, threatening the season; Jake leads his crew in bad conditions; Sig tries to offload his crab; Keith grinds to the finish.
When polar ice descends, the skippers must choose to stay or flee; the Saga is in danger of sinking; Josh takes a huge gamble; Sig and Johnathan race to rescue gear.
2026
In the season premiere, the captains find a rare strain of red King crab in the north amid crushing ice and violent storms. Sig deploys an underwater drone to pinpoint the horde. Jake revives the legendary Cornelia Marie to battle perilous northern seas.
With no port for shelter, Johnathan fights to protect his crew as Typhoon Halong pounds the northern grounds. Rick's Red King jackpot halts when a line fouls his prop. In 25-foot seas, Jake discovers the limits of the Cornelia Marie's fishing operations.
After joining forces, Sig and Jake set their boats on a collision course. Crew tensions explode on the Time Bandit, leading Keith to lure Freddy back to the Wizard. When the Aleutian Lady's exhaust stack bursts into flames, Rick must fight fire with fire.
When the Time Bandit's freezer fails, John makes an emergency trip to St. George Island to feed his hungry crew. Sig and Jake lure crab to their own side of a maritime boundary. Rick battles a perplexing engine issue amid the biggest waves of the season.
A dream leads John to a crab hotspot, but a rival trawler shares the vision for filling its own massive nets. Keith's crew races to save the Wizard when seawater breaches the engine room. On the Northwestern, Clark gets dragged across the deck by an erratic crane.
2024
In the Season 20 premiere, King Crab's return ignites a derby-style race. After losing the Saga, Jake joins Sig as co-captain. A serious hip injury tests Sophia. A fire on the Wizard traps Keith's deckhand below deck. Wild Bill faces his hardest test yet.
As competition heats up on the King Crab grounds, Jake's next move puts him at odds with Capt. Sig. Wild Bill battles heavy seas and side effects, while Sophia "Bob" Nielsen attempts to pop in a deckhand's dislocated hip to avoid a steam back to town.
After leaving Sig's boat, Jake has a lot to prove on the massive Titan Explorer. Sig and Johnathan jockey to get ahead of a migrating king crab hoard in an underwater canyon. Rick faces Keith's wrath when his captain-in-training launches a rogue set.
A below-deck brawl puts Sophia "Bob" Nielsen's captaincy to the test on the Seabrooke. A hydro leak on the Summer Bay threatens to send Wild Bill's King Crab season into the red. Rick must make a crucial decision when Jacob's deckmate crosses the line.
When Sig's fishing information falls into the wrong hands, he deals his protégé a lesson he won't soon forget. After his crew gets slammed by back-to-back waves, Rick faces a gun-shy deckhand. Sophia contends with a crewman with a badly infected tooth.
On the Northwestern, Captain Sig contends with a man overboard for the first time in his career. Johnathan comes up short on crab but sees the tide turning when thousands of porpoises guide the Time Bandit in a new direction. Jack tangles with Wild Bill.
As the first Siberian storm slams the grounds, Sig sets into 40-knot winds, risking capsizing when his tank floods. Sophia must prove she can drive a boat and lead her crew in severe weather while Jake battles insubordination from his own new crew.
Sig deploys tactics from the old country to zero in on the Bairdi crab motherlode; Jack earns a windfall of new quota, but it comes at the cost of drug testing his crew; Jake gets burned by his own generosity.
Johnathan alters time in an attempt to get to port for an anniversary he promised Heather on land; Rick battles a Bering Sea gale that knocks his deckhand out of commission; Sophia helms the Seabrooke in the roughest weather she's ever seen.
Sig devises a clever way to simultaneously silence his crew and fish faster with the clock ticking on the fall season.
Mother Nature blows back as the four remaining captains battle to tank their fall quotas; Landon prays for deliverance on his first solo mission; Sig persists in fishing in 20-foot seas.
In the winter season premiere, Sig and Keith risk fishing far from land despite a forecast Super El Niño season and encounter a gauntlet of Bering Sea weather. After sand fleas consume his bait, Johnathan strategically sets pots near a submarine volcano.
As wintry weather pounds the fleet, a 30-foot wave crushes a Titan Explorer deckhand, threatening Jake's captaincy. On the Time Bandit, Johnathan loses a generator and goes dark. The Aleutian Lady drives into the weather to reach Dutch Harbor for repairs.
Aboard the Wizard, Keith must retrieve his lost anchor in 50-knot winds. Sig attempts a risky new strategy before finding himself racing to secure the next offload slot. Rick starts to turn his season around, only to lose a greenhorn to a gruesome injury.
Sig gets blown off course when an Arctic storm strikes the Northwestern on its opening set of Golden King; Jake faces the loss of his longtime engineer; Monte takes the wheel of the Wizard when Keith inexplicably collapses in the wheelhouse.
After Keith suffers a cardiac event at sea, Monte races to get his brother to the nearest airstrip for medivac. As the fleet prays for Keith's safety, the Wizard crew must navigate the notoriously dangerous port entry at Saint Paul in perilous conditions.
As Keith fights for his life at Anchorage General, Sig helps his brother Monte to get back on the crab. Aboard the Titan Explorer, Jake's deckhand is knocked out by 900 pounds of swinging steel. Rick's new engineer crosses a line he can't come back from.
John risks capsizing after being forced to fish with a slack tank. Jake hauls in the largest seas of his career. Under pressure to get home for the arrival of Mandy's second child, Sig and Clark fish deeper than ever before as mechanical problems mount.
In the Season 20 finale, four boats race to beat closing canneries as conditions intensify on the water; Sig suffers a major outage with hours to port; Jake uses his only gear to back out of trouble; John doubles down on orcas.
2020
A dramatic change in the Russian crab industry rocks global markets and drives new competition between Dutch Harbor captains and their Russian adversaries. As crab prices skyrocket legendary captains return to claim their piece of a historic payday.
Just as the fleet begins its race to beat the Russians, ferocious typhoon Hagibis turns its deadly gaze on the Bering Sea. Captains must choose whether to risk life and limb for a big payday, or to sit out the storm and fish another day.
Still reeling from deadly typhoon Hagibis, the fleet claws its way back into competition against the Russians. The pressure to make up ground has mounted and it's do-or-die for the captains, even if it means danger or even war.
With the Russian menace looming, co-captains Johnathan and Jake blast a shotgun at their problems while a vicious fist fight breaks out on the Seabrooke. Meanwhile, Wild Bill blows an engine and Mandy bets on science to get back on crabs.
The Cornelia Marie uses US satellites to spy on the Russians, Scott pioneers a dormant fishery and Wild Bill faces off with a Russian greenhorn.
Johnathan finds himself going under the knife at sea as King season comes to an end. Junior chases the elusive Golden King and Wild Bill faces off with a greenhorn.
Junior risks crossing into Russian waters to tank golden crab. Co-captains Jake and Johnathan attempt an alliance with longtime rival Keith Colburn. Josh Harris bets his season on instinct. Short on quota and options, Wild Bill seeks work in Russia.
The Coast Guard responds to a mayday call as captains and crew brace for the loss of friends during a brutal winter storm. Sig and Monte track an opilio hoard at the Russian line, and the clock is ticking for Wild Bill & Junior during the cod derby.
As the crab biomass migrates across the Russian line, Josh and Casey dump 175 pots on the border. Sig and Mandy go dark ship in towering seas. Jake's new deckhand gets injured while Junior attempts to steam through False Pass in a nighttime blizzard.
Facing a 500-mile wide Siberian storm, Josh takes a big risk to keep the Cornelia Marie crew safe. Junior loses control of his rudders putting his boat at the mercy of heavy seas. Jake’s greenhorn problems get a lot worse when one clogs the toilet.
Listing heavily and taking on water, Junior calls on chase boat rescue for the first time in series history. Wild Bill sends Nick 20 feet off the deck in spite of his fear of heights. Josh and Casey hit a massive wave that knocks out greenhorn Maria.
On the Summer Bay there's hell to pay when Bill's backup block goes missing. Cornelia Marie skippers Josh and Casey navigate a tenuous partnership at the Russian line. Weighed down by three full tanks, Sig puts a heavy Northwestern in Mandy's hands.
The Wizard catches fire in a violent storm known as a bomb cyclone. Josh and Casey attempt to fish in 30-foot seas, while two rogue waves slam the Southern Wind. Wild Bill grinds his crew 72 straight hours bringing himself to the brink of collapse.
Battling exhaustion, Wild Bill and his crew face the full wrath of the bomb cyclone. A snapped tendon puts the Summer Bay down a man. Josh gambles on crab-rich grounds in a costly venture north. An injured Mac fights to get Junior through the storm.
As an injury knocks Sig out of his wheelhouse, Mandy takes the helm to face a disgruntled Northwestern crew.
Stuffed pots come at a price as Jake scrambles to repair a slack tank before it kills his crab or capsizes the Saga.
Josh and Casey race to haul pots as engine failure threatens their delivery window. As seawater destroys his hydraulic motors, Junior attempts a risky high seas delivery of three new motors. Harley and his crew bang heads over his fishing strategy.
Sig and Mandy conspire to get Jake to do their prospecting, but the former deckhand seizes the moment to fill his own tanks. The Wizard crew must break through ice to rush Keith to a doctor. Junior fears the worst as a deckhand falls from the stack.
A rare weather event churns up rogue waves as supermoon tides collide with a cyclonic snowstorm. Josh and Casey face a 55-foot monster, while Jake risks capsizing to repair his rudder in unruly seas. Monte's big move north pays off in massive pots.
As the super snow-moon storm peaks, the Cornelia Marie's deck becomes a gauntlet for Josh and Casey's greenest greenhorn. Ice fog overtakes the fleet as Monte scrambles to stay afloat, Harley loses an engine and Junior fights a sea-flea infestation.
As the fleet mounts a final Winter season push, sad news rattles the Cornelia Marie wheelhouse. Lady Alaska greenhorn, Gabby, overcomes a painful injury to support her crew. Wild Bill's deckhands must devise a bush fix or face hauling pots by hand.
Saga loses a veteran deckhand, forcing Jake to steam a greenhorn army to the Russian line. Amid scuttlebutt that ports are closing due to a virus, Josh fights to get home for a reunion with his brother and Sig's daughter gets rushed to the hospital.
The Cornelia crew fights to save its gear from sea ice; Jake risks the far north to fill his tanks before his son's birth; amid news of a looming pandemic, Russian boats mysteriously disappear and captains race to dock before crab prices crash.
2025
Sig and John co-captain The Time Bandit, sparking a gold rush for crab out west; chaos on the Titan Explorer forces Jake's crew to abandon ship.
After a deadly chemical leak forces Jake to abandon ship, Keith races to locate the Titan Explorer crew and save their ailing vessel; with Sig aboard the Time Bandit, Mandy takes the Northwestern's helm for her first-ever solo king crab season.
A typhoon brings monstrous waves and high winds to the west; Rick and Bob attempt to stitch a head wound in turbulent seas; John risks capsize to make a harbor entrance; an emergency tests Jake between his duties as captain and man of the house.
A brutal knife injury on the Northwestern leaves Sig scrambling. After one crewman quits, tensions explode on the Confidence until even the co-captain revolts. The Wizard faces a nightmarish mechanical failure when Keith's throttle fails in rough seas.
In treacherous western waters, Sig and Jake gamble on a daring new fishing strategy. Rick and Sophia attempt a perilous boat-to-boat transfer to save a quarter of a million dollars of crab. The fleet mourns the loss of beloved fisherman Nick Mavar.
Johnathan's dash to the dock halts as the Coast Guard boards the Time Bandit; Sig seeks a bigger biomass out west and convinces Rick to go to Adak to dig up his father's lost fishing spots; the Hillstrands attempt a high-risk harbor entry.
Sig must act quickly as heavy ice entombs the Northwestern. When Keith's Australian greenhorn challenges his old-school command, a culture clash erupts. Hellbent on earning an ownership stake in the Titan, Jake hauls pots at a blistering pace.
A cracked tank on the Titan Explorer leaves Jake's engines vulnerable to seawater. Keith fires another deckhand but struggles to get rid of him for good. Johnathan prescribes alternative cures as the norovirus overtakes the Time Bandit crew at sea.
Sig strikes gold raiding Keith's hot spot, but when a line snarls his wheel, he must call his rival for help; a rogue wave knocks out Rick's electronics, forcing Bob to take the helm; Harley breaks in a new co-captain, only to break down at sea.
When the Time Bandit loses power with a storm at its tail, Johnathan deploys a camera probe to find what's snarling his propeller. Keith sets a decoy string to lure Sig away from good fishing, but risks his own secret plan by trusting the wrong ally.
In the winter premiere, the snow crab fishery reopens unexpectedly after three years; Keith and Jake charge north, only to collide with an incoming Siberian storm; Sig and Rick form a wary alliance, but with big money on the line, trust fails fast.
Winter season erupts as the fleet battles the seas and each other; Sig and Rick's alliance shatters as Keith fights through an injury and a short-handed crew; the Titan Explorer loses steering in heavy seas, leaving Jake dead in the water.
Venturing 600 miles north, the fleet encounters subzero temperatures and freezing spray. Sig sets into a tidal surge, but the extreme forces leave Clark injured. While Keith fishes through pain, Jake's risky pact unravels when a key man goes down.
Keith & Jake deploy guerrilla tactics when a factory trawler invades their grounds. At the Russian Line, Rick encounters temperatures so frigid that even snow crab can't survive on deck. Sig struggles against mounting breakdowns threatening his delivery.
After six relentless weeks at sea, man and machine push past the breaking point. While Keith seeks medical care in Anchorage, the Wizard loses steering in 20-foot seas. Rick fears the worst as he takes on water, and Clark finds Sig unconscious below deck.
As buyers close their doors, the fleet scrambles to collect its first opilio windfall in three years. After Sig's collapse, Clark assumes the full skipper role. Keith returns with a million-dollar vengeance, while rogue waves threaten Jake's operation.
2021
With half the crab boats tied up, Sig devises a plan to save the fishery from destruction. As Bering Sea legend Johnathan Hillstrand returns with the Time Bandit to help, veterans struggle to prove they can work together to defend the American dream.
When Mandy devises a plan for partnering, Sig must rethink his own hard-won tactics. On the Time Bandit, John and Josh conspire to outmaneuver a Russian captain who tells them what to do in US waters. All hell breaks loose as two vessels collide.
As hundreds of dolphins lead the Summer Bay into an approaching cyclone, Jake attempts a daring nighttime rescue in high seas. Scott Campbell Jr. finds himself out of options, leaving Sig to make a controversial call to save the fishery.
Driving the Time Bandit and Cornelia Marie, Josh and Casey attempt Johnathan's strategy for tracking King Crab across time and space. On the Summer Bay, Wild Bill's crew fights a mid-gale power outage, but the days are numbered for their greenhorn.
As a typhoon rocks the Bering Sea, the Summer Bay suffers a collision. Sig gambles all his pots in one spot, while Casey takes a scientific approach to finding the elusive Bairdi crab. John and Josh rush a pit stop to get the Time Bandit back in the hunt.
Time Bandit and Northwestern are struggling so they decide to join forces and throw cages down on either side of the restricted zone. Will their new technique work out?
With the Bairdi fishery open for the first time in years, Josh and John on the Time Bandit reopen the Phil Harris playbook and ask Casey and Sig to help tank the fleetwide quota. Wild Bill bets on Nick McGlashan to turn the tide for the Summer Bay.
Time Bandit and Cornelia Marie race for the last spot at the cannery, but as word spreads of an emergency shutdown of the Bairdi fishery, they return to the grounds as Sig Hansen rallies his fellow captains with an unconventional plan.
In the Winter premiere, the fleet reels from the loss of Summer Bay deck boss Nick McGlashan. Wizard and Cornelia launch early into a massive Arctic storm. Johnathan can't see eye-to-eye with an old friend and shocking news forces Sig to change his plans.
When Johnathan trusts his instincts more than his partners, the Time Bandit makes a surprise appearance in the Northern Grounds just as Josh and Casey need him most. Sig puts his crew exactly where they need to be in a matter of life and death.
As seawater floods in, Wild Bill's crew scrambles to locate a hole in the Summer Bay's hull. Johnathan faces a fire on the Time Bandit and a catastrophic hydraulic failure forces Jake to send his chief engineer 25 feet above the Saga's rolling deck.
As a polar vortex storm slams the Cornelia Marie in the far north, Josh navigates the biggest seas of his career while Casey performs emergency surgery. A catastrophic collapse of the Northwestern's crane leaves Sig and Mandy with no way to haul pots.
Sig makes a desperate bid to save his gear from the descending ice pack while Jake dumps pots to avoid capsize. When Wild Bill gets a line caught in his propeller far from Dutch Harbor, he enlists Jake's diver to attempt a risky underwater repair.
As the fast-moving ice edge crushes all in its path, Sig and Mandy rush north to rejoin the fray. On the Cornelia Marie, Josh and Casey's race to save their pots comes at a cost in blood and pain. Heavy freezing spray threatens to capsize the Wizard.
Skirting the ice line to the deepest set of their careers, Josh and Casey apply frontier medicine to a bleeding deck boss. A block wound sidelines Wild Bill's new rail man, while injuries on the Time Bandit take out two crewmen and threaten family bonds.
As canneries unexpectedly change delivery rules, captains must race to get to the front of the line. Jake risks a daring entry into St. Paul harbor, as Johnathan seeks help from Wild Bill. Josh and Casey bet their season on a deep set at the Russian Line.
Captains scramble to meet an expanded quota in the path of a violent system dubbed "Squall-pocalypse". A breakdown on the Wizard puts Monte in debt to the Time Bandit and Josh and Casey exceed their own quota when it comes to injuries on deck.
An Arctic storm blasts the fleet as Sig ventures to deep waters he hasn't fished in 17 years. Johnathan steers the Time Bandit into 30-foot waves in a hail Mary run toward Russia. Captain Keith attempts a risky maneuver to save the Wizard's pots.
Cornelia Marie skippers Josh and Casey follow a blind tip from an unknown fisherman into uncharted waters. Johnathan fears for the worst when Freddy lands in the icy Bering Sea. On the Wizard, Captain Keith tempts fate, risking thousands in crab gear right at the ice edge.
Jake battles a hurricane in the fleet's smallest boat while Keith orders crew over the rail to avoid capsizing. When Johnathan discovers crab in his cod pots, his crew scrambles to locate the hoard as "Blind Dog" finds himself in a bone-crushing position.
When processors shut down due to outbreaks, Sig bets he can zero in on a rare "crab highway" before there's no place to deliver. Josh and Casey race to deliver live crab after their pump fails, while Harley risks shipwreck to be first to enter St. Paul.
In the season finale, Keith risks pushing through jagged ice in search of the Wizard's lost pots. Attempting a risky harbor entry, Wild Bill overturns the Summer Bay and a beloved crewman makes the ultimate sacrifice on the deck of a veteran crab boat.
