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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

A deckhand falls asleep at the wheel and sends the boat towards a fleet of vessels.

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.

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.

Sig orders a classic Northwestern grind; Mandy learns the true meaning of being a greenhorn; Captain Andy faces a difficult decision.

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.

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.

An ice storm arrives on the winter crab grounds; skipper Phil Harris faces hefty repairs and untimely delays when the Cornelia Marie runs aground.

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.

Ice bashing takes its toll on the fleet; an exhausted crew tries to keep up with the skipper's maniacal pace on the Northwestern.

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.

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.

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 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...

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

An arctic hurricane strikes the fleet; the Cornelia Marie fights sinking; the Time Bandit sees bloodshed; the Northwestern needs repairs.

The 2007 Opilio Crab season continues to march on despite the dangerous risks faced by the fleet.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

As an injury knocks Sig out of his wheelhouse, Mandy takes the helm to face a disgruntled Northwestern crew.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

Stuffed pots come at a price as Jake scrambles to repair a slack tank before it kills his crab or capsizes the Saga.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

The fishing grounds are engulfed by the typhoon. Josh's weaknesses are exposed. Captain Sig loses control of the Northwestern. Elliott steps down.

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.

With a higher king crab quota than any other captain, Elliott Neese bids farewell. Jake Anderson struggles to fill Edgar's shoes.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Sean is set on a collision course with another boat, two deckhands get taken down on the Wizard, and Jake almost loses a deckhand.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The fleet goes into a fishing frenzy for additional millions. The Time Bandit and Wizard bury the hatchet. Josh learns a difficult lesson.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

A fire threatens the Cornelia Marie. Keith has a showdown with his crew on the Wizard. Sig receives a shocking surprise aboard the Northwestern.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 Cornelia Marie uses US satellites to spy on the Russians, Scott pioneers a dormant fishery and Wild Bill faces off with a Russian greenhorn.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

With Mother Nature in full force, crews decide to stick it out in search of Alaskan Gold.