Nick Mavar, deckhand on Discovery Channel’s extreme fishing reality series “ Deadliest Catch ,” died June 13 of natural causes, the Bristol Bay Borough Police Department in Alaska told Variety . He was 59. Police found Mavar dead Thursday in a boat yard in Naknek, Ala.
. His family has been notified. Mavar starred in 98 episodes of seasons one through 17 of “Deadliest Catch” working as a deck hand on the “Northwestern” fishing boat.
Mavar also appeared in several “Deadliest Catch” spin-offs, such as “Deadliest Catch: Legends Born & Broken” and “Deadliest Catch: Evolution of Danger.” Mavar exited the show in December of 2020 after his appendix ruptured while filming, which revealed a cancerous tumor. He would eventually sue the boat’s owner Sig Hansen for $1 million over “failure to have an adequate plan in place” for a medical emergency while strict COVID-19 restrictions were in place.
The lawsuit would later be re-aimed at “Deadliest Catch’s” production company after Hansen claimed Original Productions Inc. was to blame for implementing the protocols that delayed Mavar’s care. Nine years before, Mavar was a victim of another incident while filming “Deadliest Catch.
” During an aggressive storm, a hook came loose and struck Mavar in the face, leaving him with a broken nose. Like the appendix scare, this moment would be documented on Discovery Channel’s YouTube channel. After working on the reality TV show for over 15 years, Mavar sp.