Deadliest Catch is set to return for its 21st season on August 1, and Northwestern skipper Sig Hansen has been opening up about some juicy behind-the-scenes details of the popular Discovery series.
Speaking with Fishing.Net.NZ, Hansen, a fourth-generation fisherman who has appeared on the show since the first season, shared his thoughts on the perils of the job, superstitions, the filming process, how the cast is paid, and more.
When asked why the show always seems to be filmed in stormy conditions, Hansen explained how the TV crew “want to show the dramatic side,” adding, “They shoot thousands of hours of footage, and I can understand that they are trying to put a storyboard together and make it fit.”
He continued, “Everything that they film is accurate, but you will see a lot of the more foul weather as opposed to the calm days; I suppose that’s what sells, but the bad weather is a reality.”
These extreme weather conditions frequently result in accidents and injuries. “I don’t know the numbers off the top of my head, but it seems like there is always a fatality,” Hansen shared. “Every year, there is something that goes wrong. It is fishing, and they are extreme conditions. A lot of it is due to the weather.”
“A problem with Alaska is that you have this shallow shelf that drops off to a couple of thousand fathoms,” he added. “This forms very tall, close-together waves on the shelf, and these are the problem – they do so much damage because they are so close together. A lot of the times the boats are loaded with crab pots, so they are already top-heavy.”
As for fisherman superstitions, Hansen explained, “It’s more of a thing you do for bar-talk or to make conversation. Not leaving port on a Friday is one superstition, and the one about suitcases we take seriously [mariners believe suitcases bring bad luck]. The first camera crew tried to take a bunch of suitcases on board, but we refused, so they had to unpack everything onto the boat and leave the suitcases on the dock.”
Hansen claimed the camera operators liked filming on his vessel because his crew don’t temper their personalities on camera, even if that means “you hear a lot of ‘bleeps’ on the screen.”
“After the first year, we got used to having the cameras around, and they said that’s why they like it,” he shared. “As long as the camera doesn’t bother you, you are going to be yourself, and that is what they are really after; that’s their big motivation – to get realistic action and reactions from the crew, and our guys give it.”
When asked if Discovery pays Hansen and his crew for their work on the show, he answered, “They pay a little bit of money for the time and effort involved, but it’s not like we are getting rich on it. It would be nice to see more, but what are you going to do? I see there are benefits on the other side of the coin, or I would not want to do it anymore. It is a hassle having the camera crews on board – it’s not easy.”
Speaking of camera crews on board, Hansen said that the TV folk are “pretty weak for the first day or two” on the boat. However, he praised them for being “pretty heroic,” noting, “They are out there for the same times in the same conditions as we are. This last year, they went to high-definition cameras and they couldn’t keep them going for more than thirty seconds at a time, they were freezing up that fast, so they were busy just fixing cameras.”
As for whether the fame from the show has inspired him to branch out into other areas of entertainment, Hansen said he and his crew are happy where they are. “We are normally busy fishing five to seven months a year,” he stated. “One thing is sure: we are not going to go into acting for cryin’ out loud!”
Deadliest Catch, Season 21, Premieres, Friday, August 1, 8/7c, Discovery