The Untold Truth Of Wicked Tuna

The central premise of "Wicked Tuna," naturally, focuses on the capture of the bluefin tuna fish, one of the most financially valuable creatures in the sea. This single variety of fish powers an industry that brings in $800 million in sales on a yearly basis. (In one instance, partially as a publicity stunt, a single bluefin tuna was purchased for nearly $2 million.)

Despite the huge amounts of money that flow through this market, with caught fish making their way to restaurants and being sold at a premium price to diners, not a lot of that actually ends up in the hands of the "Wicked Tuna" catchers. While they may end up grossing a fair amount on the backs of the fish they catch, they have to spend it as soon as they get it in order to maintain their businesses and keep them viable.

Speaking to Food and Wine in 2017, Captain TJ Ott of the Hot Tuna broke down some of the hard numbers one has to face in the life of a commercial fisherman. When you have to deal with boat upkeep, living expenses, and paying a crew, then what looks like a six-digit payday ends up mostly just sustaining the business, rather than making anyone involved fabulously rich.

"You've got to pinch pennies in this industry," he said. "It's a tough industry. There's nothing easy about it."

If the typical "Wicked Tuna" episode can be believed, the shores of Gloucester are positively choked with valuable schools of bluefin tuna, all just waiting to get hooked up and speared through in a tidy span of 42 minutes. Unfortunately, that's not typically the case. 

Just like the practice of recreational fishing that viewers are probably more familiar with, a lot of the commercial work is just sitting, waiting, and trying not to freak out about how few fish seem to be nearby. So while the "Wicked Tuna" series makes setting out to sea seem like a new adventure every day, some of the fishermen in the cast only dwell on the slow moments, when time is ticking by on what may be fruitless expeditions.

"I've been doing this a long time," said Dave Marciano, captain of the Hard Merchandise, during the series' fourth season. "So, y'know, I have mixed emotions. Yes, I'm excited, we want to get out there, we want to catch fish, and then I think about all the days I sat out there waiting for a bite. Waiting, and waiting, and waiting."

The consensus among the cast appears to be that such slow moments are just the name of the game, and that the only way to come out on top is to stick it out. "I've been dry for two months before, but in one week I've caught 20 fish," said Paul Hebert, the captain of the Kelly Ann.

One of the biggest struggles the fishermen of "Wicked Tuna" face isn't their competition with each other, but rather the fatigue of just being out on the water for such long periods of time, always at a baseline level of alertness. 

"The captains kind of figure out when the fish are coming through, and we kind of sleep around when we need to be productive," said Tyler McLaughlin of the Pin Wheel, speaking on the panel of the "Wicked Tuna" companion show "Reel Talk." "You kind of get your mates to step up during that period of time, because you can get a bite at any point in time."

It's not that the crews are constantly at work during the days they're fishing. But their energies are significantly drained by the mere effort of being vigilant, since a fish worth thousands of dollars could bite at any moment, without warning, during the days and nights they're on the water.

"We get run down just from being awake, not even doing anything," the Kelly Ann's Captain Hebert has said. "Just being out there on the boat runs you down, burns you out. So I get whatever [sleep] I can."

Captain Paul Hebert of the Wicked Pissah has also ended up on the wrong side of the law during his tenure on "Wicked Tuna." Setting him apart from his castmates, his charges weren't related to violence — but he is the only member of the cast so far who's been chased down by the federal government. 

In 2015, Hebert was indicted on federal fraud charges pertaining to ill-gotten Social Security and Medicaid benefits. Specifically, Hebert was accused of bilking the government for more than $44,000 between 2010 and 2013, claiming an inability to work due to disability. 

Of course, the moment Hebert decided to sign up for "Wicked Tuna" and have cameras follow him around his labor-intensive workday, he probably should have realized that the ruse's time was up. Instead, he continued to collect on the benefits, ultimately pleading guilty to the charges.

While the scam might have gotten Hebert some short-term gains, it only hurt him in the long run, leaving him sentenced to four years of probation. He also had to pay back over $53,000, losing all the money he took in and then some.

It's hard not to have sympathy for the captain here, considering what the court filings seem to show about his income. In the years before "Wicked Tuna," he reported earnings of well under $15k a year, and only received close to $39,000 in the year the show started airing. It's no wonder he cast out a net for extra cash.

Unfortunately, Fudge isn't the first member of the Pin Wheel to meet an early end. On September 19, 2015, another first mate with the vessel named Adam Moser died of a reported overdose of fentanyl, an opioid that is immensely more powerful and potent than heroin. He was one of four people who died of an overdose in a single weekend in his home of Portsmouth, leading his parents to speak out about the devastating effects and human costs of the opiate epidemic.

"I went to college in the '70s. I know about parties, but it's not worth using the opiate family," said Jim Moser, Adam's father, in the days after his son's death. "You can die. You will die — it's a one-way street."

Prior to his death, Moser proved himself to be a capable fisherman and "Wicked Tuna" cast member, with his Pin Wheel crew under McLaughlin's leadership managing to come out on top in the show's second season. His tragic death at an early age was an unfortunate ending to a story that seemed, to viewers around the world, to just be getting started.

Commercial fishing has historically been a male-dominated field, but "Wicked Tuna" has made an effort to highlight female fishermen from the beginning. Donna Monte and her husband/fishing partner Brad were featured early on in the show, and Tyler McLaughlin appointed his sister Marissa (better known by her nickname Merm) as first mate in Season 8 after the death of "Duffy" Fudge. The North Carolina-set spinoff series "Wicked Tuna: Outer Banks" featured captain Jessie Anderson and the all-female crew of the Reel Action; however, Anderson quit the show after one unsuccessful season, finding the show's structure difficult to work around. "I do better fishing on my own," she told the Virginian-Pilot.

Despite the success of the show overall, little progress has been made over the last decade to lure more female sailors and fishermen into the industry. According to career site zippia.com, commercial fishing remains roughly 90% male as of 2019. That percentage has fluctuated somewhat over the years; 2015 represents a high-water mark at just over 25% female, though that number declined quickly through the rest of the 2010s. Female fisherman earn less than 60 cents to every dollar earned by their male counterparts, and as we are still in the midst of a recession that has disproportionately affected women, that depressing statistic is unlikely to change anytime soon.

Engine fires are a persistent threat for commercial fishermen; even a small one can disable a boat's power and leave sailors stranded in the middle of nowhere. Large fires can destroy and entire season of work, or even be deadly. In a 2016 episode of "Wicked Tuna," a loose wire caused heat and smoke damage to J.T. Ott's boat. Camera crews were there to witness the accident and Ott's handling of it. In the end, the damage was thankfully minimal; Ott and his crew lost a day of fishing, but the boat was intact and everyone was safe.

The same, unfortunately, could not be said of the November 2020 accident that befell captain Bobby Earl and his boat Reel 'E Bugging. The boat's engine caught fire, and before long the entire vessel was in flames. Earl and his crew member Danny were luckily prepared and escaped safely on a life raft; Coast Guard rescue boats and a helicopter arrived on the scene soon after and picked them up. The Reel 'E Bugging, however, was unsalvageable. "We lost 30 years' worth of rods and reels, shoes, gear — we lost everything," he told Hollywoodsoapbox.com. The accident happened after filming on Season 7 was complete, so there were no film crew members present, and for Season 8 Earl had a new boat with the same name and was back in the Outer Banks waters, ready to risk it all again.