‘Deadliest Catch’ Death: Costar Reveals What Happened to Todd Meadows

Dan Clarendon March 7, 2026, 10:35 am

Todd Meadows on 'Deadliest Catch' — Facebook

What To Know

Deadliest Catch star Todd Meadows died after accidentally going overboard.
Fellow deckhand Trey John Green III recounted that Meadows was only in the near-freezing Bering Sea water for a few minute.
The incident was captured by the show’s camera crew, and Discovery is cooperating with an active U.S. Coast Guard investigation.

Days after the February 25 death of Deadliest Catch star Todd Meadows, fellow deckhand Trey John Green III has opened up about that tragic day.

Green told Page Six in a new interview that the Bering Sea water was “calm” but “only a degree or two above freezing” that afternoon as the Aleutian Lady fishing vessel operated about 170 miles north of Alaska’s Dutch Harbor.

According to Green, the Aleutian Lady crew members were taking turns sifting through the crabs caught in the ship’s pots. And even though Meadows was “in the right place at the right time” and “doing exactly what he was supposed to be doing,” he ended up going overboard in one of the pots as the other crew members screamed, Green added.

“It’s one of those things that none of us really understand. I don’t know what happened,” Green said. “So that’s what Todd was doing. The pot is sitting in the launcher, and Todd was actually inside the pot.”

Green went on: “We’re like, ‘Holy crap, he’s gonna sink to the bottom. We’re not gonna have any way to get this pot back up.’ … Somehow, some way, I don’t know — he was a fighter because he made it out of that pot.”

'Deadliest Catch' Star Todd Meadows' Mom Makes Desperate Plea to Show's Producers

After going overboard, Meadows was swimming and “trying to hang in there” and was only in the water for “three or four minutes” but was “lifeless” by the time a fellow crew member got him back on the boat, Green said.

Green also told Page Six that Deadliest Catch camera operators captured the entire tragedy, but a rep for Discovery told the outlet that the cable network is assisting the active U.S. Coast Guard investigation and cannot comment on Meadows’ death at this time.

Captain Rick Shelford previously paid tribute to Meadows on Facebook, writing, “Todd was the newest member of our crew; he quickly became family. His love for fishing and his strong work ethic earned everyone’s respect right away. His smile was contagious, and the sound of his laughter coming up the wheelhouse stairs or over the deck hailer is something we will carry with us always.”