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PHIL HARRIS and SIG HANSEN, THE DEADLIEST CATCH
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Alaskan crab fishing has this reputation of being the most dangerous job in the world. But how hard is it really?
PHIL HARRIS: Guys think that they can do that job. And 99.9 percent of the people can't. The last guy I hired, he was giving me this spiel about how tough he is and the whole bit. And then we got out there and he crawled up on his hands and knees to the wheelhouse, big tears running down his face, and he said, ''Get the Coast Guard out to pick me up — I'm gonna die.''
And how demanding are your own responsibilities as captain?
It's like, if you make a mistake in your job right now — say you screw this interview up — what's gonna happen? Your boss is gonna say, ''Hey man, you really f---ed this thing up, why don't you do it again?'' I go make a mistake and somebody gets either hurt or killed. There is zero room for error. You have to really, really concentrate and know what you're doing. You don't have the luxury of screwing up.
Have you been injured a lot while fishing?
I broke my back in two places, I broke both arms, I broke my ankle and my toes, my wrists, you name it. The only thing I haven't broke basically is my neck.
What do you regard as the essential piece of survival equipment?
A survival suit [combination flotation device and thermal body protector]. That's mandatory. But when I started fishing we didn't have survival suits. You were really a tough guy then. Because the guy running the boat told you, ''Hey, if you break your arm, there's 50 guys at the dock that want your job.'' So, you'd fish with a broken arm. Back then it was a lot tougher than it is now. There's a different breed of kids now that are coming up doing this. Everybody's sue-happy these days. Back then we didn't sue boats. You got hurt, you just lived through it. I cut the end of my finger off. Well, so what? You go and get it worked on and you lose the end of your finger, big deal. Let's go to work. Nowadays, the kids are gonna start a lawsuit and make a big deal of it. They're not as tough as they used to be.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: What effect has the success of The Deadliest Catch had on your life?
SIG HANSEN: Everywhere I go, people don't even ask me if I'm Captain Sig. They just walk up and go ''Hey, Captain, can I have an autograph?'' That blows me away. And I've got a thick stack of résumés from people who want to go [fishing] for free — from doctors to lawyers. You name it. But I don't want a crew made up of doctors and lawyers. I want the crew I have.
Plus, you have your own website where fans can buy thongs emblazoned with the phrase ''Can't find 'em, grind 'em!''
The people who do the site said, What do you want on there? And I said just be creative. I gave them some slogans and they went and ran with it. It was quite a surprise to me to see [the thongs] on there — I get a kick out of it.
Are they hot sellers?
I think the T-shirts and the mugs are the hot sellers. But we've sold a few thongs.
NEXT PAGE: Dirty Jobs' Mike Rowe
