Captain Sig Hansen divulges real reason he didn’t retire after health scares on Deadliest Catch

At the end of season 21 of Deadliest Catch, we saw a doctor advise 60-year-old Captain Sig Hansen to retire from fishing. Well, he has experienced two heart attacks (including one on national television). However, in season 22, Sig is very much still the captain of the F/V Northwestern. Despite lots of rumours Sig would quit fishing, he seems to have put off retirement. Captain Sig has finally cleared up the real reason he didn’t retire in between seasons of Deadliest Catch.

Captain Sig Hansen was asked about the retirement rumours in an interview with People. He responded: “I keep hearing those rumours myself. The more I hear that, the more I kind of want to rebel and not do that.”

“I know time is limited,” he continued, “so I want to keep doing it while I can. I think there’s a little ego involved. And I don’t want anybody knocking me off my throne just yet… I know there’s a line of people waiting, but I’m not ready for that.”

Sig seems to have thought through what would happen to the F/V Northwestern if he were to take a step back.

He explained: “Obviously, I want to see my daughter move in and partake more, but she had her children – our grandchildren – so that didn’t happen right away. My son-in-law Clark has been stepping up more and more, and he’s perfectly capable. But for me, that’s still kind of an ego thing and I don’t want to retire just yet.”

Sig isn’t even convinced that he’ll retire in the distant future. “I don’t think I could ever fully retire,” he said, “even if someone else was running the boat, your mind is still active. You’re thinking about the weather, where they’re at. You can never turn it off. I don’t think I’d respect myself if I could just walk away from it completely.”

Well, it sounds as if Deadliest Catch fans will be seeing plenty more of Captain Sig at sea.

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