​​’Deadliest Catch’: Jack Bunnell Hinted Some Captains Manufacture Drama for Show  

There’s no denying that crab fishing is a risky, high-stakes occupation. But does Deadliest Catch sometimes amp up the drama for the sake of TV? Some say yes. 

Captain Jack Bunnell, who previously worked as a deckhand on Captain Jake Anderson’s F/V Saga, once said that the day-to-day work of fishing was pretty dull. He hinted that some captains might make unorthodox moves to create more exciting footage for the show. 

‘Deadliest Catch’ captain Jack Bunnell says fishing ‘is boring’ 

Jack Bunnell is a new captain on Deadliest Catch Season 19. He’s helming the F/V Barbara J alongside veteran skipper Steve “Harley” Davidson. But he’s not new to the show, having previously appeared in season 15, when he worked as a deckhand on the Saga. He was one of several crew members Anderson unceremoniously fired after they got drunk onshore. 

Bunnell’s experience with Anderson and the Saga apparently left him with a bad taste in his mouth. He later implied that Anderson took risks to produce better footage for the show. In 2022, he told the Seattle Times that the captain would deliberately ram the boat into the waves and force the crew to set crab pots in a way that left them more exposed to the sea. It was all an attempt to increase the drama for the show, since the actual work of crabbing is not that compelling. 

“You got to make it exciting, somehow,” Bunnell said. “What we do, hauling pots 24 hours a day, is boring.”

Bunnell said that while he enjoyed his stint on the show, he wasn’t sorry to leave the Saga behind. He’d since taken a job on the F/V Pinnacle, whose captain had no interest in being on the Discovery Channel reality series.  

“It [Deadliest Catch] was a lot of fun; I’m not going to lie. But, for me, it wasn’t a lot of money, and the Pinnacle is a way better boat,” said Bunnell.

Captain Jake Anderson said he’d never done anything ‘unsafe’ for the sake of TV

While Bunnell claimed that Anderson was playing fast and loose with safety, Anderson denied that was the case. 

“I’ve never … done anything deliberately unsafe for effect on television,” the captain told the Seattle Times. Deadliest Catch producers also said they did not pressure captains to take risks to produce better footage.  

“We do not compromise safety for TV purposes,” they said. “Our camera teams are invited guests on captains’ boats, and they run and operate their boats independent of the TV crews.”

Deadliest Catch captain Sig Hansen has said that everything that makes it onto the show is accurate, but that producers tend to favor the more dramatic moments, such as when there is bad weather.

One thing is clear: There’s still some bad blood between Anderson and Bunnell. In a season 19 radio exchange (via Instagram), the Saga captain said his former deckhand only ended up on Barbara J because of his fishing quota. Bunnell lashed back, telling his former boss he was “still the worst skipper out there.” 

New episodes of Deadliest Catch Season 19 air Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on Discovery Channel. Episodes also stream the same day on discovery+. 

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