‘Deadliest Catch’ Gets Season 21 Premiere Date & ‘Gold Rush’ Theme

Martin Holmes June 30, 2025, 8:31 am

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Deadliest Catch Season 21 — Discovery Channel

After a longer-than-usual off-season, Discovery Channel has finally confirmed the premiere date for the highly anticipated 21st season of Deadliest Catch.

As announced on Thursday (June 26), the new season of Deadliest Catch will premiere on Friday, August 1 at 8 pm ET/PT. This marks the latest premiere date ever for the long-running reality series. From Seasons 1 through 19, the show consistently debuted in March or April. Season 20, which aired on June 11, 2024, previously held the record for the latest premiere date.

Season 21 will follow the Dutch Harbor fleet as they embark on a “gold rush-style” race to catch monster red king crab in the far west of the Bering Sea.

“To claim their share of the billion-dollar bounty, captains and crews must brave unforgiving 50-foot seas to reach abandoned Adak Island, venturing farther west than anyone has dared in over 30 years and beyond the bounds of rescue,” reads the official season description.

It continues, “Navigating through unfamiliar territory to secure the lucrative haul, the crews face extreme conditions and major ship malfunctions that put them in serious life-threatening situations, leaving the fleet at the mercy of the tumultuous western Bering Sea.”

Season 20 previously saw some of the harshest conditions ever faced by the Deadliest Catch crew, including shocking medical emergencies, weather challenges, clashing personalities, and a race against time. The season finale saw a particularly tense moment when Captain Sig Hansen’s Northwestern lost power, and he had to manually steer the vessel home.

While Discovery has not yet announced which captains and boats will be featured in Season 21, Captain Jake Anderson previously revealed he and the F/V Titan Explorer will be part of the new season.

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Earlier this month, Anderson took to his Facebook page, where he shared a photo aboard his Titan Explorer fishing vessel, sorting through a massive haul of crab. “…..waiting. ………waiting …….waiting DEALIES [sic] CATCH STARTS MID JULY,” he wrote alongside the image. Obviously, he was a little off on the premiere date.

In addition to Season 21 of Deadliest Catch, Discovery announced two new shows set to premiere in July. This includes Naked and Afraid spinoff Naked and Afraid: Apocalypse (premiering July 27) and Animals on Drugs (premiering July 28), which sees wildlife biologist Forrest Galante dive into the bizarre and shocking world of animals under the influence.

Also, a new season of the weather disaster series In the Eye of the Storm premieres on July 27, and Season 2 of the adrenaline-fueled Mud Madness, which follows the off-road subculture of extreme UTV and ATV mud racing, is scheduled to premiere on July 29.

Deadliest Catch, Season 21, Premieres, Friday, August 1 at 8 pm ET/PT, Discovery Channel