Nick Mavar, Star on Discovery's ‘Deadliest Catch,’ Has Died

Nick Mavar, a deckhand on the unscripted fishing show Deadliest Catch , died of a heart attack June 13 in Alaska. He was 59.

Mavar appeared in 98 episodes of Deadliest Catch , a show about crab fisherman plying their trade on the Bering Sea, which debuted on Discovery Channel in 2005. He worked on a fishing boat called F/V Northwestern. He left the show in 2020 after his appendix ruptured and he learned he had cancer, The New York Times reported .

Mavar’s nephew, Jake Anderson, told the Times Mavar had a heart attack while on a ladder at a boatyard in Alaska. Anderson also appears in Deadliest Catch .

The 20th season of Deadliest Catch debuted June 11. It sees Anderson lose his F/V Saga boat and return to the boat where he began his career, and the boat his uncle worked on, the F/V Northwestern . That boat is owned by Sig Hansen.

Hansen wrote on Facebook: “I have known nick mavar for my entire fishing career, he has worked on our family boat for 25 plus years. He was more than a crew member, he was a very good friend and a right hand man. The passing of nick mavar spread through the fishing community like wild fire. This is no surprise because of how well known and respected he was by the fishing fleet.”