Deadliest Catch reveals new cast members and season premiere date

It’s time for some fresh faces out at sea.

It’s time for some fresh faces out at sea.

EW can exclusively reveal the new cast for the upcoming season of Deadliest Catch, which returns with a two-hour premiere on April 18 on Discovery. The season will see a new generation of captains — including a storied author, rookie captains, and a deckhand aspiring for more — team up with fan-favorite skippers for the youngest and most diverse cast yet on the reality series.

Alaskan crab continues to be as difficult as ever to fish, but high seafood prices drive our crews to the Bering Sea to get their share. We’ll see new and returning cast members overcome their differences to defend their fishing grounds.

“All of us are facing a new threat,” says returning Captain Sig Hansen in a teaser for the new season, above. Sig will continue to try to secure his legacy with daughter and co-captain, Mandy — but it looks like a devastating loss is in store for the family. The teaser includes footage of Sig at what appears to be a funeral.

Also returning in the new season is the F/V Time Bandit’s Andy Hillstrand, who hasn’t been on the show since 2016. He and his brothers, Johnathan and Neal, will tackle the Golden King Crab Fishery.

Below, meet the new cast members, and watch the first-look teaser above.

Linda Greenlaw

East Coast legend Linda Greenlaw, the only female swordfishing captain and survivor of The Perfect Storm, sets her sights on America’s Last Frontier and brings more than 40 years of experience to Captain “Wild” Bill Wichrowski’s F/V Summer Bay.

Sophia “Bob” Nielsen

Joining Captain Jake Anderson on the F/V Saga is new captain in training, 23-year-old Sophia “Bob” Nielsen. Following the loss of both of her parents in quick succession, the third generation fisher has her sights set on gaining all of the experience that she can to continue the Nielsen name and take over as captain of her family’s 74-foot wooden hull vessel, the F/V Victory.