Secrets of ‘Deadliest Catch’ Even Fans Don’t Know

Airing worldwide, “Deadliest Catch” began in 2005 and followed a team of experienced fishermen as they mastered the treacherous seas in search of crab.

Lasting for fifteen seasons, the documentary-style show offers and up close and personal look at the dangers and drama the crew encounters during their journeys. Below are a few behind-the-scenes secrets most fans don’t know.

Friendly Waters

In an interview with Captain “Wild” Bill Wichrowski, The A.V. Club discovered just how well the ship crew and the Discovery Channel camera crew get along. “They basically participate with us. They eat with us.

They sleep with us” stated Wichrowski, who said he’s grown to really like spending time with the cameramen, especially the wheelhouse operator.

From All Sides

During his interview with The A.V. Club, Wichrowski revealed just how focused the cameramen are when it comes to capturing the perfect action shot. The wheelhouse itself is comprised of four fixed cameras pointed in all directions and 2-3 cameras on the deck. “Every shooter carries a camera with them and then there are the GoPros” revealed Wichrowski, which capture “hook shots, shots going over the side, inside the crab tanks.”

Something Fishy

Most reality shows carry the assumption that most of the drama is heavily scripted for the audience’s amusement.

While “Deadliest Catch” maintains its honesty in depicting the harsh conditions the crew endures, the show was exposed in 2008 for faking a scene in which it was suggested the Wizard ship was in danger of sinking.

Storm waves filmed in October had been “stitched together” with footage of the flooded boat from September to create a vision of horror as outlined in a production document obtained by The Hollywood Reporter.

Coming Clean

Anchorage Daily News reported on a 2010 drug-trafficking investigation that led to the discovery of the show’s production manager attempting to sell cocaine to an under-cover cop.

Seizing $80,000 worth of narcotics and other drug paraphernalia, the Unalaska police charged Matthew J.

Schneider with delivering “$300 worth of cocaine to an undercover officer.” Reports also suggested Shneider had been secretly recorded and revealed he had cocaine specially imported to be distributed during promotional parties for the show.