Deadliest Catch Rich List: Which Mysterious Captain Tops the Earnings Chart?
Discovery Channel’s reality TV series, Deadliest Catch Season 19, focuses on the crab fisherman in the Bering Sea in 2023. The dangerous job can certainly pay well, but many viewers watching still wouldn’t perform the daily duties for the annual income. So, who’s the richest captain on Deadliest Catch? Here’s what to know.
The richest captain in Deadliest Catch is season 19 star Sig Hansen, captain of F/V Northwestern.
Sig has a reported net worth of $3.5 million and brings in an annual salary of $500,000 to $1,000,000. He first started fishing while on his parents’ boat at the age of 14, and after high school, he made it a year-round activity. His father, Sverre, pioneered the Alaskan crab fishing industry, so it was always in Sig’s blood to take to the Bering Sea.
Sig’s daughter, Mandy Hansen, is also aboard the F/V Northwestern in Deadliest Catch Season 19. While she’s determined to become a great captain like her father, Sig didn’t want her to follow in his footsteps. “I did not want her on the boat,” he told People. “I’ve lost so many friends … you can’t even comprehend. You’re out there risking your life.”
With that said, Mandy maintains she always wanted to get out on the water like her father. “I tried looking into different areas in the maritime industry, you know, the big boats, and container ships, that was what I was trying to go for but I just realized, that’s just an office job on the water,” she explained to People. “There’s a lot more thrill in fishing. So, I went right back to it.”
The second richest captain on the show was “Wild” Bill Wichrowski, captain of F/V Summer Bay, with a net worth of $3 million. The third richest was Jake Anderson, captain of F/V Saga, with a net worth of $1.8 million.
Captain Sig Hansen said government shutdowns can ‘drastically affect’ the prices of the seafood
It’s clear that Captain Sig Hansen’s status as the richest captain on Deadliest Catch is from the crab fishing prowess he learned during his teen years. While he managed to become a success story, it hasn’t always been easy or lucrative. He told Channel Guide Magazine that making money this way is “scary” and uncertain.
“But us being of Norwegian descent, our whole community was fisherman, so you just accept that and you live accordingly. It’s a scary way to make a living,” Sig said. “And it’s not just the danger — it’s volatile, so you have to really want it with your heart and accept the kind of lifestyle that it is.”
“You don’t know from one year to the next if you’re even going to go fishing to make a living,” he added. “With the government shutdown, that was tough and it was stressful because it can drastically affect the price of the seafood. So, that being said, when you look at the next generation trying to get into something like this, if you can find a job that’s steady pay and that you can count on and be on the beach — that’s great. Because this lifestyle, it’s not for everybody.”
Crab boats are extremely expensive to purchase and maintain
Not only is crab fishing dangerous, but the crab boats cost a lot to maintain. The boats seen on Deadliest Catch can reportedly cost several million dollars to build. The 150-foot Alaskan Enterprise, one of the largest boats, was over $2 million to construct. Smaller boats can still cost well over $100,000 to $160,000 to purchase used.
The boat is just one expense, too. The crab pots are thousands of dollars each, and the licenses for fishing crab where Deadliest Catch is filmed can cost up to $7 million.
