The American reality television series "Deadliest Catch" premiered on the Discovery Channel on April 12, 2005. The show follows crab fishermen aboard fishing vessels in the Bering Sea during the Alaskan king crab and snow crab fishing seasons. The base of operations for the fishing fleet is the Aleutian Islands port of Dutch Harbor, Alaska.
Dutch Harbor, Alaska, the base of operations for the fishing fleet.
The series follows a fisherman's life on the Bering Sea aboard various crab fishing boats during two of the crab fishing seasons, the October king crab season and the January opilio crab season. Each episode focuses on a story, situation, or theme that occurs on one or more boats. The fleet's captains are featured prominently, highlighting their camaraderie with their fellow captains and relationships with their crews, as well as their competition with other boats in the hunt for crab.
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Commercial fishing has long been considered one of the most dangerous jobs in America. In 2006, the Bureau of Labor Statistics ranked commercial fishing as the job occupation with the highest fatality rate with 141.7 per 100,000, almost 75% higher than the fatality rate for pilots, flight engineers, and loggers, the next most hazardous occupations. Alaskan king crab fishing is considered even more dangerous than the average commercial fishing job, due to the conditions on the Bering Sea during the seasons when they fish for crab.
According to the pilot episode, the death rate during the main crab seasons averages out to nearly one fisherman per week, while the injury rate for crews on most crab boats is nearly 100% due to the severe weather conditions (frigid gales, rogue waves, ice formations on and around the boat) and the danger of working with such heavy machinery on a constantly rolling boat deck.
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The Derby System
The series' first season was shot during the final year of the derby style king crab fishery. Under the old derby style, a large number of crews competed with each other to catch crab during a restrictive time window.
Crab fishing vessel in Alaska.
Transition to the Quota System
The subsequent seasons have been set after a change to the quota system as part of a process known as "rationalization". Under the new Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) system, established owners, such as those shown on the series, have been given quotas that they can fill at a more relaxed pace. In theory, it is intended to be safer, which was the main rationale for the change in the fishing rules.
The transition to the quota system was also expected to increase the value of crab by limiting the market of available crab. The rationalization process put many crews out of work because the owners of many small boats found their assigned quotas too small to meet operating expenses.
One of the series' main features is the portrayal of the harsh life at sea, including the behavior and mannerisms of the fishermen who are engaged in a hazardous lifestyle with little tolerance for low performance or ineptitude. Several of the series' shows have featured "greenhorn" fishermen who are usually the brunt of harsh criticism and sometimes bullying by veteran deckhands.
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Production Aspects of "Deadliest Catch"
The Behind the Scenes special provided insight on how the program is produced. A two-person TV crew lives on each boat profiled. They use handheld Sony HVR-Z5U and HVR-Z7U HDV cameras to shoot most of the series (one on the main deck, one in the wheelhouse). Additional footage is provided by four stationary cameras that are permanently mounted around the ship and are constantly recording.
Shots from vantage points outside the boat are accomplished through a variety of methods, including the use of a helicopter for footage near the harbor and a cameraman on a chase boat (in season 1, the main chase boat was the F/V Time Bandit). The crew also makes use of underwater cameras, including one attached to a crab pot for a "crab's eye view" of the pot being retrieved in season 2, one mounted in the main crab tank on the F/V Northwestern beginning in season 2, and one mounted to a submersible watercraft beginning in season 3.
Audio is recorded using wireless microphones worn by the fishermen and shotgun microphones attached to the cameras. Because of a lack of space on the boats, the crews do not have an audio mixer on board.
Shooting episodes of Deadliest Catch is a dangerous occupation for the camera crews on board the boats. In the early seasons, when many of the camera crews had little or no experience on crab boats, they frequently ran into dangers not normally encountered when shooting a documentary. Interactions between the film crew and the fishermen appear in the show occasionally.
Incidents and Accidents
Coast Guard rescue helicopters stationed at Integrated Support Command Kodiak (Kodiak, Alaska) and their outpost on St. Paul Island, near the northern end of the crab fishing grounds, are frequently shown rescuing crab boat crew members who fall victim to the harsh conditions on the Bering Sea.
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Coast Guard rescue squad was featured prominently during the episodes surrounding the loss of F/V Big Valley in January 2005, the loss of F/V Ocean Challenger in October 2006, and the loss of F/V Katmai in October 2008.
Here is a summary of some incidents and accidents involving crab fishing vessels:
| Vessel Name | Incident Description |
|---|---|
| F/V Big Valley | Lost in January 2005. |
| F/V Ocean Challenger | Lost in October 2006. |
| F/V Katmai | Lost in October 2008. |
| Foremost | Sank on 4 May 1977 due to a slack tank causing it to capsize. |
| Carly Renee | Four-man crew rescued after abandoning ship. |
| Western Venture | Crew rescued by another crab fishing vessel. |
These incidents highlight the extreme dangers faced by those working in the Alaskan crab fishing industry, as portrayed in "Deadliest Catch".
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