JUNEAU, Alaska — A deckhand on the reality television show “Deadliest Catch,” which documents the lives of crab fishermen working in one of the world’s harshest environments, died after he was reported to have fallen overboard, the U.S. Coast Guard said Tuesday.
The Coast Guard received a notification shortly after 5 p.m. Feb. 25 from the Aleutian Lady that crew member Todd Meadows had fallen overboard about 170 miles (274 kilometers) 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 show. He joined the series last May but no episodes for the new season have aired.
“We lost our brother,” Aleutian Lady Capt. Rick Shelford said in a social media post that did not detail how Meadows died. Shelford called it the “most tragic day in the history of the Aleutian Lady on the Bering Sea.”
Meadows was the newest member of the boat's crew but quickly became family, Shelford wrote.
“Todd’s love for his children, his family, and his life was evident in everything he did. He worked hard, loved deeply, and brought joy to those around him,” Shelford wrote.
A statement released by the Discovery Channel called Meadows' death "a devastating loss, and our hearts are with his loved ones, his crewmates, and the entire fishing community during this incredibly difficult time.”
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 what 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, NPR reported.
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Thiessen reported from Anchorage, Alaska.
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