‘Deadliest Catch’: Did Captain Sig Hansen Retire After Scary Medical Emergency?

Will Sig Hansen be spending the rest of his life on dry land? The long-time Deadliest Catch captain recently weighed in on his retirement plans after experiencing an alarming medical emergency. 

Sig Hansen gets a warning from his doctor in ‘Deadliest Catch’ Season 21 finale

In the October 31 finale of Deadliest Catch Season 21, the long-time captain suffered a serious medical emergency at sea. After complaining that he was tired, Hansen went to lie down in his cabin. Later, a crew member found him on the floor. He was barely conscious and had vomited but insisted that he was just “dizzy.” 

While the F/V Northwestern captain claimed he was OK, Hansen’s son-in-law Clark Pederson was concerned, given that Hansen had experienced two previous heart attacks. Pederson talked to a doctor via phone, who said that given Hansen’s symptoms (which included shoulder pain) he needed to be seen by a medical professional right away. The Northwestern headed back to port, and Hansen went straight to the clinic.

Hansen confessed that he was drinking as many as 20 cups of coffee a day and still smoking. The doctor advised him that he needed to change his lifestyle – and possibly consider stepping away from fishing – for his health. 

Hansen didn’t take that news well. 

“I don’t see that happening,” he said. “Quite, frankly, I don’t want to.” 

Will Sig Hansen retire?

Hansen brushed off the idea of retirement on the Deadliest Catch finale. But in an interview with People, Hansen confessed that he was more open to the idea of retiring than it seemed on the show. 

“I think I’ve got a few more years left in me,” he said. “I think about it all the time. And when I do think about retiring, it’s only because I’ve lost so many people, and I’m more fearful every time we go out on the water. And so that’s very true, a part of it is just, you think about your own mortality, and I’m fearful.”

Deadliest Catch has lost a number of cast members over the years, including Captain Phil Harris, who died from a stroke in 2010, and deckhand Nick Mavar, who died of a heart attack in 2024. 

As he’s gotten older, Hansen also said he’s become more focused on his family life than his career. 

“I don’t have the same mentality I did as before, where you look at everything as a challenge,” he said. “It’s still challenging, but it’s not the same. I’ve been there, done that, and now I want to spend more time with my family, my wife [June]. Look at all the years and decades that she’s given up for me, waiting. It’s got to go the other way.”

“The retirement is obvious, that’s going to happen,” he added. “I’ve got four grandkids now. I used to laugh at all these old-timers when they brag about their grandkids and talk about how that’s their whole world. I’m like, ‘You guys are nuts. Can’t we talk about fishing?’ And now, I’m one of those guys. Can’t help it. And I love it. I really do.”

Deadliest Catch is streaming on HBO Max. 

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