‘Deadliest Catch’ heads to its riskiest, most remote location yet

Published On: August 3, 2025

Deadliest Catch has become much more lethal.

Longtime Deadliest Catch star and fishing captain Sig Hansen provides some background information about the new site of the Discovery Channel program in the season 21 teaser. Adak Island in Alaska used to be a significant crabbing hub, but those days are long gone.

In the teaser, Hansen drives by deserted houses and even an abandoned McDonald’s restaurant, pointing out that the population of Adak has decreased from 90,000 to only 27 people.

“We’re talking about billions of dollars and millions and millions of pounds of crab, and then the crab just vanished out of thin air,” Hansen adds. So far.

The Deadliest Catch’s Dutch Harbor fleet has arrived on Adak Island after a cod fisherman recently made the unintentional discovery of red king crab. However, their work will not be simple due to the remote nature of the place.

In the trailer, Hansen emphasizes that the further west you go, the more it will devour you. You are in the cradle of storms, and you have strong winds and seas. No assistance, no backing. You’re alone.

The Bering Sea, where Adak Island is located, is a familiar place for the Deadliest Catch fisherman, but according to a season 21 description, this season will send them farther west than anybody has dared [to go] in more than 30 years and beyond the limits of rescue.

READ MORE: How to watch the free premiere of Deadliest Catch season 21

As if that weren’t intimidating enough, the upcoming season will present the captains and crews with 50-foot seas, harsh weather, and significant ship faults. Jake Anderson’s crew is forced to evacuate the ship as it leaks at one point.

Hansen informed people about the terrifying moment, “I mean, when we heard that they were in the water, that changes everything.” As a fisherman, you rush to save your pals when you hear they are in the sea while you are out in the middle of nowhere.

At 8 p.m. ET on Friday, August 1, Discovery Channel will debut Season 21 of Deadliest Catch.