EP 76, Captain Sig Hansen-Deadliest Catch-My Legacy
Sig was a tough one to track down as he has a very busy schedule. But the wait very well may have been worth it, we had to break this one up into two episodes, this is episode 2.... Enjoy!
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Sigurd Jonny Hansen was born in Seattle, the eldest of three sons; his brothers are Norman and Edgar. Their father, Sverre Hansen, was descended from a long line of Norwegian-ancestry fishermen. His father and grandfather pioneered opilio crab fishing in Alaska as a way of giving crab boats a chance to earn money year-round rather than in short-term or late-year seasons. He began fishing at age 14, working on his family's boat. After he graduated from high school, he began fishing year-round, spending on average 10 months per year in Alaska and the Bering Sea. Occasionally he also fished mackerel and cod in Norway during the summer. In his early years, he cut school so that he could go fishing.[1]
Hansen started as a deckhand on his father's boat before his teenage years, working his way up the ranks. At age 22, he became a “relief skipper”, relieving other captains on the Northwestern, as well as doing short-haul stints on other boats in the fleet.[2] By age 24, he began running the Northwestern full-time. Over the years, the boat has become a top producer with an excellent safety record; it has never had a single death at sea in the nearly 20 years Hansen has been at its helm, and its serious injury rate is significantly lower than other boats in the Bering Sea fleet as well. In 2005 for King Crab and 2006 for Opilio, the Northwestern won the final derby seasons, taking home the titles for both the highest poundage caught and the highest dollars earned between the featured boats in the Deadliest Catch.[2] As of 2011, Hansen serves as the full-time captain during king and opilio crab seasons, as well as the pot cod fishery on the Northwestern. His younger brothers, Edgar and Norman, are deck boss and deckhand, respectively.[citation needed]
In March 2010, Hansen became a published author with the release of his book (co-written with Mark Sundeen) North By Northwestern: A Seafaring Family on Deadly Alaskan Waters, which reached the bestseller list of the New York Times[3] and the Wall Street Journal.
On April 29, 2010, Hansen was a guest on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. During the show, he expressed his desire to be a contestant on the next season of the hit ABC reality television series Dancing with the Stars.[4] Leno's staff set up a Facebook page to gather support for him to be selected for the show.[5] In September 2010, Hansen announced that he would not return for the seventh season of Deadliest Catch. However, on October 8, it was announced that Hansen would come back to the show.[citation needed]
He provided the voice of a boat named Crabby (modeled after the Northwestern) in the Disney Pixar film Cars 2.[6] He competed in the 14th season of The Celebrity Apprentice.[7]
In 2014, Hansen was inducted into the Scandinavian-American Hall of Fame, along with Tonight Show bandleader, Doc Severinsen, and singer Bobby Vee.[8]
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