Who died on Deadliest Catch? The full list — and the sea claimed fewer of them than you'd think
Deadliest Catch has been filming the Bering Sea crab fleet for Discovery since 2005, and the title has never been marketing. Captains, deckhands, and engineers who appeared on the show have died across those two decades. But if you assume most of them went down in the water, the record says otherwise.
Eleven cast and crew members with documented ties to Deadliest Catch have died since 2005. Only three died during active production: Captain Phil Harris in 2010, deckhand Todd Kochutin in 2021, and deckhand Todd Meadows in 2026. The other eight died ashore, in the off-season.
The full list
- Captain Phil Harris (2010) — suffered a stroke aboard the Cornelia Marie while offloading crab at Saint Paul Island during season 6 filming; died days later in hospital at 53. His final days were filmed at his own request.
- Justin Tennison (2011) — Time Bandit deckhand, found dead in a Homer hotel room on 22 February at 33; the autopsy cited complications from sleep apnoea.
- Captain Tony Lara (2015) — briefly captained the Cornelia Marie in season 7; died of a heart attack in August at 50 while attending the Sturgis rally in South Dakota.
- Captain Blake Painter (2018) — the Maverick's skipper from season 2; found dead at his Oregon home in May at 38 after an accidental overdose.
- Mahlon Reyes (2020) — deckhand, died in July at 38; the cause was confirmed a year later as an accidental overdose.
- Nick McGlashan (2020) — deck boss across 78 episodes from 2013; found in a Nashville hotel room in December at 33, also an overdose.
- Todd Kochutin (2021) — died in February at 30 from injuries sustained in an accident with an 800lb crab pot aboard the Patricia Lee, filmed for the season 17 finale.
- Ross Jones (2022) — a greenhorn on Jake Anderson's Saga; died in June, cause undisclosed at the family's request.
- Tom Brossard (2024) — the Saga's engineer and Anderson's closest collaborator on the boat's rebuild; heart attack in January at 64, in the Philippines.
- Nick Mavar Jr (2024) — Northwestern deckhand across 98 episodes from 2005 to 2021; heart attack at a Naknek boatyard on 13 June at 59, while prepping for salmon season.
- Todd Meadows (2026) — fell overboard from the Aleutian Lady on 25 February, 170 miles north of Dutch Harbor, at 25. His crew recovered him roughly ten minutes later; the death certificate recorded drowning with probable hypothermia.
What about the boats that sank?
Two of the fleet's worst losses involved vessels the show didn't follow directly. The F/V Destination went down without a mayday near St George Island on 11 February 2017, killing Captain Jeff Hathaway and crew members Kai Hamik, Darrik Seibold, Larry O'Grady, Raymond Vincler, and Charles G. Jones. The Coast Guard's investigation blamed overloaded pots and an estimated 340,000lb of accumulated ice. The Scandies Rose sank on New Year's Eve 2019, with five of seven crew lost.
The most recent one
Captain Rick Shelford announced Meadows' death on Facebook, calling it "the most tragic day in the history" of his boat, as reported by NBC News in 2026. Production on season 22 was in its final days when it happened; Meadows' mother asked that the footage never air.