‘Deadliest Catch’s’ Captain Sean Dwyer Busted, Now On 2 Years Probation


Deadliest Catch’s Captain Sean Dwyer was busted by Alaska Fish & Game officials and is now on probation for two years.

TMZ reports that the newest captain on the show made a rookie mistake when his fishing gear wasn’t up to snuff. According to the report, a crab pot on Dwyer’s boat, the F/V Brenna A, didn’t meet guidelines with its escape hole for undersized crabs to retreat.

It’s critical that crabbers have exact measurements of escape mechanisms for their pots in order to be legal. Crab pots must have an 18-inch hatch held closed by biodegradable ties.

Dwyer’s escape hole was off by three inches. Preventing the mistake would have entailed just one snip of twine.

Sean Dwyer was fined $1,500, and he’s now on probation for two years.

Of course, it’s not just rookies who make these kinds of errors. Earlier in the season, Captain Casey McManus and Captain Josh Harris of the Cornelia Marie realized before setting out to sea that they had crab pots with smaller holes than updated regulations required. The Deadliest Catch captains were forced to make some last-minute adjustments before heading out on the Bering Sea. It was a fix that cost a lot of money and time, but they would’ve been busted like Captain Dwyer and fined a lot more had they not corrected issues with their gear.

TV Ruckus recapped the earlier episode by stating that Casey screwed up and was unaware that new regulations mandated eight, not four, ring holes in the Opie pots for undersized crab to escape. Had they stuck with the original four-ring crab pots, all of their crab would’ve been illegal. The question remains: Why didn’t Casey read through the regulations prior to that?

So, with a lot of work, the crew worked to make eight-hole pots on its existing gear.

As the Inquisitr reported in January 2015, former Captain Elliott Neese was busted for undersized crab. The captain had 13 undersized Red King crab in his pots, which resulted in a $6,000 fine. Officials agreed to fine him only $3,000 since he pleaded guilty.

Although these types of errors are considered rookie mistakes, a few of the more experienced Deadliest Catch captains that have been caught with undersized crabs or illegal fishing gear now.

Captain Sean Dwyer is the latest addition to the reality with a squeaky clean image. He doesn’t get too riled up at sea and isn’t the chain-smoking captain at the wheel viewers see in his fellow captains. In the last few episodes, however, Dwyer has shown his more intense side, yelling at crew members who aren’t readying the gear appropriately on deck and berating a defiant deckhand. The “good boy” captain isn’t exempt from using swear words, as several beeps accompany those few moments he talks with producers on-camera.

Dwyer believes in being firm but fair as a leader. As fans have seen at this point, Sean doesn’t go on a tirade or unleash on anyone unless he’s been absolutely pushed to his limit.

According to his profile on Discovery.com, Sean is 24-years-old and is the youngest captain in the fleet. He looked up to his late father, shadowing him as a young fisherman. Now, he’s out to fulfill his father’s legacy and make his mother proud.

It’s also revealed in the biography that Sean Dwyer is overseeing a misfit crew with little fishing experience. He’s had his work cut out for him at this point.

It’ll be interesting to learn what Season 13 of the show brings for Dwyer if he’s on two years of probation after being busted for illegal fishing gear.

Deadliest Catch airs Tuesday nights on Discovery at 9 p.m. ET and 6 p.m PT.

[Image via Discovery Channel]

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