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‘Deadliest Catch’ Fans Question One Piece of Equipment the Crew Doesn’t Wear

Any reasonable fisherman knows that venturing out on the open sea is more than just a little dangerous. The crews face life-threatening weather, seas and injury from working with their equipment. Even for the experienced crew that make up the “Deadliest Catch” stars, they’re not immune to some hairy situations.

However, some curious fans recently posed the question to the Reddit-verse about why these guys aren’t wearing GPS trackers when out on expeditions.

“Why aren’t all the deck hand crew members made to wear GPS trackers in case they go overboard? Or why aren’t they attached to the survival suits? Though in case you don’t get one on I’d want to wear it around my neck or something,” one user wrote.

A quick Google search will show that individual GPS trackers range in cost, with some carrying a hefty price tag upwards of a few hundred dollars. This could be at least one reason the “Deadliest Catch” guys don’t always have them on.

Another user brought up a good point: “If you have one around [your] neck and don’t have a survival suit on, it’s a waste of a GPS. You have only mins to survive. Even by the time your own ship turned around and IF they managed to locate you it would be too late.”

Survival suits protect from extreme cold in harsher climates. And fishing crews in generally cold weather, like say Alaska, probably do have them on board, but may not wear them all the time.

“Deadliest Catch” Boats Require Lots of Maintenance

Additionally, fishing boats require tons of regular maintenance. Those costs accumulate quickly and presumably take a large chunk of change from the overall production.

“Plus, if someone sinks in a survival suit, or the cold temperatures, there’s a possibility the trackers wouldn’t even work at all. And we have to remember that for all intents and purposes, these guys are living paycheck to paycheck dependent on their catch,” one Redditor said. “It makes sense to me that they would choose to spend their extra cash on repairing a hull, or replacing electrical, instead of potentially ‘wasting’ money on something they never want to use. Their boats always seem to be on the verge of falling apart.

However, some fans still seemed unsatisfied with those arguments. Another user took to the site to remind fans that because the work is so grueling and dangerous, the “Deadliest Catch” stars are not making pennies. Their paychecks reflect the hard work which add up to over $100,000 in a year, one user said.

“Well, former stars Gary and Kenny Ripka said in a 2016 article from Distractify that deckhands can make between $150,000 and $170,000 a year,” the user wrote.

For now, it seems the matter is one of much debate. But we all want the same thing: to see the crews pull in some awesome hauls while just being safe.