April 12, 2017 — Climate change is one of the main characters in the new season of “Deadliest Catch,” with the crab fishermen in one of Discovery’s most enduring and popular shows forced to deal with a sudden warming of the Bering Sea that chases their prey into deeper, more dangerous water.
That leads the adventure series into its own uncharted waters. The show’s 13th season debuts Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET.
“It’s a big risk for us to discuss climate change because so many people can think that it’s a political issue when really it isn’t, particularly in the context of the fishing fleet,” said R. Decker Watson, Jr., one of the show’s executive producers.
The waters off Alaska that provide the livelihood for the show’s real-life stars warmed by a dramatic 4 degrees in one year. The cold water-loving crab is depleted in the traditional fishing areas, so some of the boats strike out for new territory that is more dangerous because of fiercer storms and is further from rescue workers if something goes wrong, he said.
In fact, the new season documents one vessel lost at sea. It was not one of the crews regularly featured in the series, but all of the regulars knew who was involved, he said.
The developments offer an opportunity to educate an audience that might be less familiar about climate change. The median age of a “Deadliest Catch” viewer is 50 and the show skews 60 percent male which, judging by the results of the last election, might include its share of climate change skeptics. Yet Discovery isn’t interested in preaching; the series is more interested in documenting what is happening, not in explaining why.
There are no scientists aboard the fishing boats, and the show’s main purpose is to follow the lives of the crew, said Rich Ross, Discovery president.
Read the full story from the Associated Press at the New Jersey Herald