Sig Hansen Begs Jonathan Hillstrand to Delay Retirement to Help Avoid Fishery Shutdown

The promo clip from the upcoming season 17 of Deadliest Catch shows a very serious discussion between two veteran captains and friends, Sig Hansen and Jonathan Hillstrand.

Sig approaches Jonathan in his garage, and Jonathan tells him that they can talk in the car ride. “Just be nice,” Sig says. “I’ll be nice,” Jonathan replies, but it is pretty clear that Jonathan just wanted to show off his muscle car and driving skills to Hansen as he pulls out after burning out his tires.

After an aggressive short drive, he ends with a few donuts. However, the scene quickly turns intense when Sig reveals the reason why he’s here. “This year has been crazy for everybody,” he says, “and I don’t know if there is going to be enough guys to actually catch the cod that we need to get.”

What Sig defines as a “weird year” in the video obviously refers to the pandemic. While COVID-19 only had a little negative impact near the end of last season, the entire crabbing industry is feeling the full brunt of it this season. About half of the crabbing boats are tied up in Seattle because of the virus.

The remaining fleet has slim chances to catch the 5 million pound quota to prove that there is enough crab population to the government officials. If they are not able to meet the quota, the government will likely shut down the entire industry for the purpose of helping the delicacy that is king crab replenish. If there is a closure, it could last two to three years.

Hansen complains to Hillstrand that it was a similar compounding issue from the shutdown during the start of the pandemic in the USA that halted the Alaska Department of Fish and Game from carrying on with their annual summer crab survey. This is why the new season of Deadliest Catch will have the cast members facing the challenge of going crabbing without any charts.

“We need you back, John, plain and simple. The fleet does need you back,” Hansen continues, with the fishermen needing all the help they can get. “There is no better man to come help than John.” But as many of you may know, Hillstrand has officially decided to retire this season, and by the looks of it, he already has other obligations.

“I have a dog. I’ve got all these grandbabies,” John speaks after some silence. “I don’t even know if I can get a crew. So, I don’t know…”

Sig interrupts him, expressing his worries: “You want to retire, I get it. But if you want to retire, you’ve got to hand over your port to somebody. And you can’t do that if there’s no fishery. I would really appreciate it if you could step up and do this, man.”

Hansen conveys his plea one more time as John scratches his head over his friend’s dire request. “I just have to talk to Heather. I have to let you know,” John says, asking for some time from Sig to discuss it with his wife.

We doubt the show would reveal that exclusive clip if they did not have further appearances of Hillstrand in the rest of the season. We’ll have to await new episodes to confirm that, so make sure you keep up to date with the ongoing season 17 of Deadliest Catch.