‘Deadliest Catch’ Alum Nick Mavar Dies At 59

Nick Mavar, who appeared on Discovery Channel’s reality franchise Deadliest Catch, died Thursday in Naknek, AK, Bristol Bay Police Chief Jeffrey Eldie confirmed to Deadline. He was 59.

Mavar suffered a medical emergency at a boatyard in Naknek Thursday afternoon, according to Eldie. Paramedics were called and he was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead of what was determined to be natural causes, Eldie says.

Mavar appeared in 98 episodes on Deadliest Catch from 2005 to 2021, as well as several spinoffs including Deadliest Catch: Siberian Winter and Deadliest Catch: The Bait. Mavar served as a deckhand for maintaining the F/V Northwestern and its mechanical equipment. He departed the series after his appendix ruptured onboard in December 2020, a medical scare that was chronicled on the show. Mavar later sued the owners of the F/V Northwestern alleging there wasn’t a proper plan in place to get him proper medical help during the pandemic. In turn, the boat owners sued the show’s production company also alleging “failure to have an adequate plan in place” to get outside medical help during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mavar’s death comes just days after Deadliest Catch Captain “Wild” Bill Wichrowski publicly shared his prostate cancer diagnosis. Wichrowski’s deck boss on Deadliest Catch, Nick McGlashan, died in 2020 due to addiction.