Deadliest Catch Deckhand Died After Falling Overboard

Deadliest Catch deckhand Todd Meadows died last Wednesday after he was reported to have fallen overboard, the US Coast Guard said Tuesday. The Coast Guard received a notification shortly after 5pm Feb. 25 from the Aleutian Lady that a crew member had fallen overboard about 170 miles north of Dutch Harbor, Alaska, Chief Petty Officer Travis Magee, a spokesperson with the Coast Guard's Arctic District, said by email Tuesday. "He was recovered unresponsive by the crew approximately ten minutes later," Magee wrote. Efforts to resuscitate Meadows were unsuccessful, and the crew brought his body to Dutch Harbor, he said. The Coast Guard is investigating.

Meadows, from Montesano, Washington, was in his first year as a cast member of the Discovery Channel reality series that documents the lives of crab fishermen working in one of the world's harshest environments. He joined the series last May but no episodes for the new season have aired. An online fundraiser had brought in about $30,000 by Tuesday to assist Meadows' family, including his three sons, and pay for funeral costs and other expenses. The fundraiser said Meadows, 25, died doing what he loved best: crabbing on Alaska waters.

The death is the latest for cast members of the show detailing dangerous crab fishing on the Bering Sea. The show first aired in 2005. In 2021, crewman Todd Kochutin, 30, died as a result of injuries he received while aboard the fishing vessel Patricia Lee, according to his obituary. Several other cast members have died of substance abuse or natural causes. They include Capt. Phil Harris of the fishing vessel Cornelia Marie, who died in 2010 at age 53 following a massive stroke, and Nick Mavar, who died in 2024.