What To Know About Deadliest Catch Season 19's Newest Fisherman Jack Bunnell
When "Deadliest Catch" returned for Season 19 on April 18, the long-running reality series promised plenty of challenges awaiting in the Bering Sea: the usual perils of crab fishing, the depopulation of snow crabs, and most crucially, the scourge of illegal fishing by unregistered vessels. None of these trials were enough to dissuade newcomers Linda Greenlaw, Sophia "Bob" Nielsen, Jacob Hutchins, Rick Shelford, and Jack Bunnell.
A rookie captain on the F/V Barbara J, Bunnell previously appeared on "Deadliest Catch" Season 15 as a deckhand on Jakob Anderson's F/V Saga. On the Saga, Bunnell butted heads with Anderson. Bunnell was critical of the ship's safety measures, noting that crab pots were rearranged to make better footage, even if it exposed them to crashing waves. "You got to make it exciting, somehow," Bunnell told the Seattle Times. "What we do, hauling pots 24 hours a day, is boring." He also injured his leg in 2019 when a massive crab pot slammed into his leg. Anderson ultimately fired Bunnell for insubordination.
With Bunnell now captaining his own ship alongside veteran skipper Steve "Harley" Davidson, some old grudges remain, and Bunnell and Anderson confirmed their distaste for one another in a radio exchange. But Bunnell hasn't let some inter-captain beef keep him from capably captaining his own ship.
Jack Bunnell is a third-generation fisherman
Jack Bunnell's fishing background extends far beyond his Season 15 stint on "Deadliest Catch." Bunnell, who grew up in the coastal community of Homer, Alaska, is a third-generation fisherman, and his grandfather used to regale him with stories of king crab fishing in the Gulf of Alaska. Later, his father fished red king crabs in the Bering Sea.
Prior to joining Season 19, Bunnell was also a crew member of a fishing vessel called Pinnacle, but dwindling numbers of snow crabs concerned the young fisherman. In 2022, the Alaskan snow crab harvest was put on hold for the first time ever, threatening Discovery's ability to produce "Deadliest Catch." "In the future, I'd like to be in the wheelhouse," Bunnell told the Seattle Times in 2022. "That's where I have my goal set. But if there's no crab to catch, then I will never be a skipper."
Bunnell's dreams of captaining his own ship seem to have come to fruition on "Deadliest Catch," but it hasn't always been smooth sailing. In one episode, a 700-pound crab pot was dented to the point of destruction. In another, the S/V Barbara J's engine spontaneously shut off, forcing Bunnell to grab a headlamp and investigate the mechanical bowels of the ship. Bunnell's journey as a young captain continues every Tuesday night on Discovery.