Sig Hansen heads through especially dangerous waters during Season 21 of Deadliest Catch. which premieres with a two-hour special on Friday, August 1, on Discovery. He and his fellow captains are hoping to hit the jackpot venturing South to Adak Island. Word has spread that the remote area is teeming with pounds of valuable king crab. The island was once bustling with military and a center of fishing activity. These days the area is relatively desolate. Hansen hopes to carry on what his family started decades prior by revisiting the area. 

It’s a big risk he is looking to translate into high reward, but the 59-year-old isn’t going it alone, at least at the start of the season, when he teams up with Johnathan Hillstrand on the Time Bandit to explore the possibilities of this particular region of Alaska. Ahead of the two-hour premiere of the popular Discovery Channel series on August 1, we caught up with Hansen about the rough journey to come.  

You’ve been on this show for so long, but it seems like this one is special for you in a lot of ways. 

Sig Hansen: We were quite a ways in the West, legally as far as we could go in our box. When you get to Adak, it’s pretty historical. For me, it was a trip back in time. That was a lot of fun. The fact my daughter got to participate and she was on the Northwestern for the first time on her own was a real treat for me. Part of me really enjoys all this, and part of me is like, “Jesus Christ, I’m setting myself up for death.” It scares me. It really does. She did great. Mandy being on her own [while I was away]. For me, it was a blessing that I thought was going to be a curse being with the Hillstrand guys aboard the Time Bandit in the beginning. We went on this prospect mission. For the Catch fans I think that will be a big one because I didn’t see it coming either, but it worked out. Not to give too much away, but it worked out. We found a lot of crab. It was a lot of fun. Almost going back in time. 

Competition looks to be at an all-time high in this Gold Rush style situation. You find this place that has untapped potential where others like Keith Colburn are looking to do whatever it takes to get their piece of the pie. Take me through how competitive this area is with the season we’re exploring. 

Boy you did your homework! This was last October, and it can be hard to remember all the stuff we did. Yeah, Colburn was in the area. True to his colors, he is never going to change. That is why I love him so much. He showed up and it felt like we were back in the derby days. As soon as we figured out that it was him, it was a lot of fun. It wasn’t fun at the time, but looking back, it was a lot of fun. It made it real. It was more aggressive. You’re fighting for your land. You’re fighting for your area. That’s how it was before. That’s how it was this last season, and I like that. It makes you feel young again, aggressive, mean. 

Jake Anderson runs into some big problems on his vessel, the Titan Explorer. You’re hearing the distress signal on the radio. He worked under you. You have mentored him. How emotional were those moments when you heard that he and his crew were in trouble? 

Being in those scary situations you feel for the guy. I feel like he is probably capable of taking care of himself, but things do happen. It was fear. In my mind, it was just plain fear for him. At the end of the day, you have to remind yourself he knows what he is doing. I know that may come off as blunt and hard, but they have to take care of themselves. That’s just the way it is, but it was scary. 

You mentioned earlier Mandy taking over for you aboard the Northwestern while you were on your prospecting trip. Why was now the right time you felt she was ready for this responsibility? How is it to see her follow in your footsteps? 

The fact she took the reins herself. That was the first time for her. She has run the boat with me and been inside the decision-making with me. She is on her own here and made her own decisions. That is what impressed me. It was like another trip back in time. It reminded me of my own situation. Back then we didn’t have phones, ship to shore, so we had to radio from Alaska to Seattle. I can remember trying to ask my father, “What do I do? Where do I go? How am I going to fix this problem?” He is yelling at me, “You have to make your own decisions, and that was it.” I felt like it was a taste of reality I got. At the end of the day, she made the right decisions. She had to be her own boss. If you’re not going to be your own boss, then get the hell out of the chair and let someone else do it. It’s just that simple. People don’t understand that until you’ve been there. 

She certainly takes ownership of the captain’s chair as viewers will see.

Yeah, she is a chip off the old block. 

You make no bones about the risks involved this season. What are some of the biggest challenges you face? 

When you’re out West, you’re in a different area. Geographically, it’s different. You’re dealing with heavier tides and currents and narrow passages and things like that. When you’re dealing with those kinds of elements, everything changes. You have different waves and patterns that hit you. What may look like on the surface may not look the same as what is underneath you. That’s where problems happen. It’s a very scary situation to be in. The power of the currents really makes things different. That with the tide and the winds, it changes the whole game plan. It just feels bigger. 

Keith suffered a medical emergency on board last season. When things like that happen, does it get you thinking about your own career? Where do you stand when it comes to your future working on boats? 

Right now, I’m in Norway where we have a project for an event center that we opened. This is on land. That’s not to say that is my goal in life. For me, I want to stop, but I don’t want to stop just yet. I’m trying different things. That is fun to me. As long as life is fun ,then you’re motivated and move forward. People ask me all the time if I’m going to stop fishing. The answer is no because I love what I do, but it is getting difficult all the time. It’s very difficult. I can’t stay awake like I used to. It’s hard to push like we did, and that’s what it takes. It’s a reality check. It’s getting harder and harder. 

Sig Hansen, June Hansen, Mandy Hansen holding baby, and Clark Pederson standing together. (Discovery Channel)

It looks like you’re always working. Is there anything you like to do for fun? 

We have a place on the lake. We go water skiing with the kids and all that good stuff. It’s always something with the family. We’re doing more trips to Norway, so that is fun. We have a lot of family here as well. I’m not an avid golfer. I’m not down that road yet. I think for me, what is fun for me is something that is challenging. Any little project that has a little bit of risk and reward is fun. I’ll always be doing something like that I think. It’s like what we did with the center. People think I’m nuts, but I love it because it’s challenging. If it’s not a challenge, I don’t think I’d do it. I never thought of all this until you asked me, but that’s how I’m thinking today. 

You and the other guys have this competition amongst each other, but there is also a lot of camaraderie too. How do you describe the bond you all share by not only being in the same industry but doing your job while cameras are on for the world to see. 

I think the program brought us closer together. The television show shows what others are doing later when you watch it. You are spying on each other through the eyes of the TV. That is fun. The camaraderie has been getting stronger and stronger, and I think that has to do with age. I think if you’d asked me that question 20 or 30 years ago, there would be no camaraderie. It was just a competition, and you’d throw each other under the bus as much as you could. You’d lie, steal and try to catch more crab. Your ego was bigger. It was very ego-driven. I think everybody has matured, at least Keith and I, John and others. We’re getting older, so we’re seeing things differently. If someone does something good, I pat them on the back and say, “Well done.” Before I would say, “Damn, you didn’t deserve it.” That is even if they did well. I’m a different guy. 

What do you want to say to viewers this season? 

Number one, it’s airing on a Friday. That blew my mind. That’s great because I hear it all the time where people complain they have DVR because they have to get up early for work. Now on Friday, it’s great. We have such hardcore fans. I love it. Every year you don’t know what to expect, and the viewers know that. That’s why we are still here 21 years later. It’s fun. The more challenging, the fun it is. That is when you look back. That’s how it is. Always have been. You want to have the bragging rights. That hasn’t changed. Before you went to the bar how good you did. Nowadays you brag to your grandkids how good you are. It’s different. The circle of life. 

Deadliest Catch Season 21 premiere, August 1, 8/7c, Discovery Channel