Discovery Channel has confirmed the premiere date for Season 22 of its hit series Deadliest Catch and shared more information about how the show will deal with the death of new crew member Todd Meadows.
“Deadliest Catch” will be rebroadcast on Discovery Channel on Friday, May 8th at 8pm ET. The episode features Meadows, who joined the ship Lady in the Aleutian Islands as a deckhand in May 2025. Meadows died after falling overboard on February 25th. He appeared while the show was in production for the second half of the season, and Meadows’ scenes were filmed weeks before the accident.
According to background information shared with reporters, the Aleutian woman was equipped with a camera at the time of the incident, but will not appear on the show out of respect for her family and loved ones.
According to information from Discovery, the season will honor Meadows in the premiere episode and also share how his loss has affected the Aleutian Islands’ female crew and fishing communities. Meadows’ contributions will continue to be featured in upcoming episodes.
According to a death certificate obtained by TMZ, Meadows died of “drowning due to possible hypothermia” and “cold water immersion.” The Alaska Department of Health ruled Meadows’ death an accident.
“With a new red king crab population emerging in the far north, the fleet relocates 355 miles away to St. George Island, facing colder weather and harsher seas than any previous season in order to maintain a livelihood in rapidly changing waters.” For the first time ever, the captains abandon their familiar fishing grounds to pursue a rare species of red king crab lurking in the icy waters of the far north.This elusive catch is of immense value, pushing their fleets into remote areas and testing their experience and resilience on the edge of the world.
Among the highlights of the season, Captain Sig Hansen said: “We launch an unprecedented covert reconnaissance mission deploying underwater drones into uncharted waters in a daring attempt to locate a rare species of red king crab before the rest of the fleet arrives.”
Meanwhile, Captain Wild Bill Wichrowski “travels to St. George Island to share decades of hard-earned knowledge,” and Captain Jake Anderson, who lost his boat and his marriage, returns for the first time in 11 years as a deckhand. “When an unexpected opportunity presents itself to resurrect the legendary Cornelia Marie, Jake returns to the captain’s chair and puts his reputation and his family’s future on the line for one final shot at redemption,” the logline adds.
Fremantle Original Productions is producing “Deadliest Catch” for Discovery. Here’s the first look:
