Dungeness crab fishing is a different beast entirely. While the original series made the Bering Sea a household name, Deadliest Catch: Dungeon Cove shifted the focus to the treacherous waters of the Oregon coast. It wasn't just a change of scenery. It was a change in the very nature of the risk. Newport, Oregon, is home to one of the deadliest bar crossings in the world. When you’re talking about the Yaquina Bay bar, you aren't just talking about big waves. You are talking about a narrow, shifting channel where the Pacific Ocean essentially tries to swallow anything that moves.
Most fans of the franchise are used to the vast, open emptiness of the Alaskan crab grounds. There, you have space. In Newport, you have the "Graveyard of the Pacific."
The show only lasted one season back in 2016, but it left a lasting impression on anyone who actually knows the industry. Why? Because it highlighted a specific kind of "small boat" intensity that the main show sometimes loses in its massive hulls and high-tech gear. In the Dungeness fishery, the season is a sprint, not a marathon. It’s a "derby" style opening. This means everyone hits the water at the exact same second, racing to get their pots in the best spots before the crab are picked clean. It is chaos. Pure, unadulterated chaos.
The Reality of the Yaquina Bay Bar Crossing
If you want to understand Deadliest Catch: Dungeon Cove, you have to understand the bar. A "bar" is where a river meets the ocean. In Newport, the Yaquina River flows out into the Pacific, and when an outgoing tide hits a heavy incoming swell, the water stacks up. These aren't just waves; they are vertical walls of water.
I've watched footage of these boats—vessels like the Retriever or the Western Breeze—and seen them literally disappear between swells. One second they're there, the next, they're gone.
The Coast Guard in Newport doesn't play around. They frequently "close the bar" to certain vessel lengths. If you're a 50-foot crabber and the bar is closed to anything under 60 feet, you stay out. Or you wait in the harbor. But when the price of crab is high and the season is only weeks long, the pressure to "run the bar" is immense. It's a gamble with lives, not just gear. Unlike the Bering Sea, where the danger is often the sheer cold and distance from help, the danger in Oregon is the terrain. You are half a mile from shore, but if you flip in the breakers, you might as well be on the moon.
Meet the Fleet: No Softies Allowed
The cast of Dungeon Cove wasn't just a group of reality TV characters. These were generational fishermen. You had the Retherford family on the Winona J and the Excalibur. Jonny Retherford and his father, Gary, represented that classic tension between the old guard and the new. Gary had been doing this for decades. He knew the water. Jonny was hungry to prove himself. That dynamic isn't just "good TV"—it’s the reality of every family-owned fishing business in the Pacific Northwest.
Then there was the Western Breeze, captained by Greg Eide.
And the Galilean, with Marc Sercu.
👉 See also: Billie Eilish Therefore I Am Explained: The Philosophy Behind the Mall Raid
These guys weren't fishing for King Crab or Opilio. They were after Dungeness. Now, Dungeness might be smaller, but the volume is massive. You’re hauling pots constantly. There is no downtime. The pots are lighter than the massive steel cages used in Alaska, but you’re handling hundreds more of them in a single day. The deck of a Dungeness boat is a blur of movement. One slip, one tangled line, and you're over the side. In the 50-degree water of the Oregon coast, you have minutes before your muscles stop working.
The Fatalities That Hang Over the Fishery
We have to talk about the Mary B II. While this happened after the show aired, it’s the shadow that looms over the entire Newport fleet. In early 2019, the Mary B II capsized while crossing the Yaquina Bay bar. All three crew members died. This happened in the same waters, under the same conditions we saw in Deadliest Catch: Dungeon Cove.
It’s a sobering reminder.
The show might be entertainment for us, but for them, the bar is a literal gatekeeper.
The Coast Guard actually released a report on the Mary B II that cited the "derby" nature of the fishery as a contributing factor to the risk-taking. When the season opens on a specific date, everyone feels they have to go, regardless of the weather. If you wait two days for the storm to pass, your competitors have already filled their boats. The "Dungeon Cove" is a literal trap—not just for the crabs, but for the men who feel they have no choice but to work in a gale.
Why Dungeness Fishing is a Different Kind of Stress
In the Bering Sea, you're often out for weeks. You settle into a rhythm. In the Oregon Dungeness fishery, it’s a frantic 48-to-72-hour push at the very beginning. This is called the "Big Push."
The guys are awake for three days straight.
Hallucinations are common.
Coffee stops working after hour forty.
The gear is also different. Dungeness pots are circular and much smaller than the rectangular King Crab pots. Because they are smaller, the boats carry a lot of them. A boat like the Winona J might be stacked high with pots, making it "top-heavy." When a top-heavy boat meets a breaking wave on the bar, the physics are terrifying. If the boat tilts too far, the center of gravity shifts, and it won't come back up. It’s called "capsizing," but it happens in a heartbeat.
✨ Don't miss: Bad For Me Lyrics Kevin Gates: The Messy Truth Behind the Song
The Economics of the Newport Fleet
Money is the driver, as it always is. But in Deadliest Catch: Dungeon Cove, the economics felt more "blue-collar" than the flagship show. In Alaska, a good season can net a deckhand $50,000 or more in a few months. In Oregon, it’s more of a local economy. These guys are part of the community. When you go to the local diner in Newport, you’re sitting next to the guys you saw on the screen.
The price per pound for Dungeness fluctuates wildly based on the California market and the Chinese export demand. If the "pickers" (the processing plants) aren't buying, the fleet sits. If the price drops by fifty cents, a profitable season turns into a debt-heavy nightmare. You’re not just fighting the ocean; you’re fighting the market.
Honestly, the show probably didn't get a second season because it was too real and perhaps lacked the over-the-top "villains" that Discovery Channel likes to manufacture. In Newport, everyone mostly gets along because they have to. They are the only ones out there to save each other if something goes wrong. There’s a level of mutual respect that doesn't always make for high-conflict reality TV, but it makes for a much more accurate portrayal of what commercial fishing actually looks like.
Common Misconceptions About Dungeon Cove
People often think Dungeness fishing is "easier" because it’s closer to shore. That is a total myth. In many ways, being close to shore is more dangerous. In the deep ocean, the waves are long swells. Near the shore, the water is shallow. Shallow water makes waves steeper, faster, and more unpredictable.
- The Depth: Most Dungeness fishing happens in 10 to 50 fathoms (60 to 300 feet).
- The Weather: The Oregon coast gets hit by "cyclogenesis" storms that can go from calm to 60-knot winds in a few hours.
- The Bar: I'll say it again—the bar is the deadliest place on earth for a fisherman.
Another misconception is that the "Dungeon" in the title refers to a place. It’s actually a play on the name "Dungeness," combined with the idea that once you enter the "Cove" (Newport), you are trapped by the weather and the tides. You're in the dungeon until the ocean lets you out.
What Happened to the Show?
Discovery Channel never officially gave a long-winded reason for the cancellation. Usually, it comes down to ratings versus production costs. Filming in Oregon is cheaper than the Bering Sea, but the "brand" of Deadliest Catch is tied to Alaska. However, if you go to Newport today, the locals still talk about the film crews.
The legacy of the show lives on in the increased awareness of bar safety. Since the show aired, there has been more national attention on the "Dungeness Derby" and the pressure it puts on captains. There have been pushes to change the management of the fishery to a "quota" system—similar to what they have in Alaska—to stop the dangerous race for crabs. But many Oregon fishermen resist this. They like the freedom. They like the gamble.
🔗 Read more: Ashley Johnson: The Last of Us Voice Actress Who Changed Everything
Actionable Insights for Fans and Aspiring Fishers
If you're fascinated by the world of Deadliest Catch: Dungeon Cove, don't just watch the reruns. There are ways to actually engage with this world and support the people who do this work.
Support Local Fleets
When you buy crab, ask where it came from. If it’s Dungeness, there’s a high chance it came from a boat just like the ones on the show. Buying domestic seafood supports the safety upgrades these captains need.
Understand the Risks
If you ever visit Newport, go to the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse or the fisherman's memorial. You’ll see the names of the men who didn't come back. It puts the "entertainment" of a reality show into perspective very quickly.
Follow the Real Stories
The captains from the show are mostly still active. You can find many of them on social media or follow the Newport Oregon Crab Fleet groups. They post real-time updates on the bar conditions and the catch. It's way more intense than anything a producer could script.
Watch the Bar Cameras
The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) and the Coast Guard have live cameras on the Yaquina Bay bar. If you want to see what the Dungeon Cove guys deal with, check the cameras during a winter storm. You’ll see why they call it the Graveyard of the Pacific.
Fishing is one of the few jobs left where you can't "out-think" nature. You just have to endure it. Deadliest Catch: Dungeon Cove gave us a brief, brutal look at a group of people who choose to do that every single winter. It wasn't just a spinoff; it was a tribute to a very specific, very dangerous way of life that continues long after the cameras have stopped rolling.