The newest season of Deadliest Catch will feature a Maine connection, with popular fisherman, author and reality TV star Linda Greenlaw joining the cast.
Greenlaw, who runs a charter business out of Surry, first gained nationwide notoriety when she was featured in Sebastian Junger’s 1997 book, “The Perfect Storm,” about the 1991 sinking of the fishing vessel Andrea Gail off the New England coast. She has since published her own memoirs, cookbooks, and crime fiction novels. She has also starred in her own swordfish fishing-based reality TV series, “Swords: Life on the Line.”
The popular Discovery Channel series will be airing Deadliest Catch’s two-hour season premiere featuring Greenlaw on April 18.
Q: You’re known to most Mainers and wider audiences as a fisherman of swordfish and lobster. Did you find transitioning to crab fishing difficult for “Deadliest Catch?”
A: Transitioning to the crab fishery was not too difficult for me - I have been involved in the offshore red cred fishery here in New England and have been fishing fixed gear on and off since I was a kid. The difference was primarily hauling single, massive pots as opposed to trawls of smaller traps. Finding crab was the biggest challenge. This was my first experience with Bairdi crab and also my first trip on the Bering Sea.
Q: Aside from the fishing itself, how was filming “Deadliest Catch” different from your previous television work?
A: Filming of Deadliest Catch was more scripted than “Swords: Life on the Line.” Hey, 19 seasons in, the show has to be more than catching crabs or not! The popularity of the show speaks for itself.
Q: You’re celebrated for your work as a novelist, nonfiction author, cookbook writer and reality TV star. Has this changed your perspective at all on fishing, or your work as a fisherman?
A: I have a lot going on — always have and hopefully always will. I write books, grow oysters, fish lobster traps, run charters, deliver boats, etc. Being featured in Deadliest Catch will not change my schedule. But I imagine it will increase people's awareness of me and my life. All good! None of this changes my perspective on fishing.
Q: Any word on whether any of your novels will be adapted to the big or small screen?
A: Books being made into movies... I am waiting for the phone to ring. There is no conversation about that. But you never know!
Q: Any other new fishing-based reality show appearances in the works?
A: I am always open to the opportunity to participate in things that focus on fishing in a positive light. If another opportunity knocks on my door, I'll determine then whether or not to jump.