Discovery’s Emmy-winning series “Deadliest Catch” returns Tuesday night for its 12th season with a new face: Sean Dwyer, who, at 23, is the youngest captain to ever join the fleet of fishing boats that work in the Bering Sea. In this exclusive interview, Dwyer talks about his entree into reality TV, his memories of his late fisherman-father, Pat, and his new responsibilities as the captain of the Brenna A. Photo: Discovery I hear your father bought the Brenna A especially for you. Do you feel his presence while captaining the ship? Was it your idea to put his initials on the bow? I absolutely feel my dad’s presence when I’m on the boat. My dad was my mentor, role model, hero, whatever you want to call it; we were very close. The joke in the family when I was little was that if my dad turned around too fast, he’d run me over. I shadowed him as much as I could to try to absorb as much of his knowledge as possible, especially once he was diagnosed with ALS. We shared a strong passion in fishing and working on boats and as he became more disabled from the disease, I became his hands-on connection to the business. I learned about every aspect of the boats and the business from my dad. I find myself thinking “What would my dad have done here?” quite often. Once he passed, my family and I were thinking of a good way to show the mark he left on us and the bow crest was born. My dad’s initials are on the back of a king crab that’s “riding” a shield. We thought it was a cool way to tie it all together. Have you noticed a difference in how your crew reacts to you now that you’re the captain? The transition from crew member to captain wasn’t too bad. I started running the Brenna A in the summer salmon seasons when I was 21 and that was definitely a learning season. I tried to be friends with my crew first and their boss second — I learned quickly that I had my priorities backwards. I had to remember what [“Deadliest Catch” captain] Keith Colburn told me: “Don’t let the crew run the boat.” I applied this lesson right off the bat this season and I think it went well. We came a long way this year with the challenges that we were dealt and I respect my crew. What’s been the greatest challenge on the show this season? Is it tough to captain a ship and star on a TV show at the same time? Making a TV show and running a boat is not easy. I have the utmost respect for the veterans of “Deadliest Catch.” My biggest challenge this year was finding the balance between filming and fishing operations. We had all the tribulations of the Bering Sea, a new boat to the fishery, a young crew and a new captain all while having a camera crew onboard and rolling 24/7. It was definitely a balancing act trying to keep everyone happy. After a while though … we found our rhythm. Anything else you’d like to share? When I started this whole thing with the show, I was pretty skeptical of it all. [“Deadliest Catch” captain] Sig Hansen had explained to me before this season that the show is really like a documentary, so I gave it a try. I’m excited to show how my family dealt with my dad’s ALS and how it wasn’t something that defined him. We continue to show our support through the independent research laboratory ALS.net and hope that a cure or treatment can be found soon. We tried to make the best of our situation — and maybe by watching myself and my on “Deadliest Catch,” others will do the same.
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