As the fleet prepares for king crab season conflicts surface in a meeting between the ship captains. Two of the captains hatch a creative scheme to help their kids grow up. The fleet heads to sea and sets their traps in eerily calm seas. Then, the Guardian comes to the rescue of a sinking cod boat.

The fleet pulls up their first king crab string of the season and after some suspense most of the boats show good numbers. But the greenhorns are already feeling the strain and there be storms a-brewing; not just in the weather but in the families.

The storms roll in but the fisherman take them in stride except when it comes to mundane things like cooking. A bigger problem is bait shortages making tempers rise. After three weeks at sea the captains trade their kids back.

The captain's boys spend some harrowing minutes alone in the wide open ocean transferring back to their home boats. Then its back to work to close out the king crab season but there are troubles. One boat takes on water. One has dead crab and too many crewmen. Another has a crewman with a bad attitude and a nagging skeleton in the closet.

The boats unload and head back out to top off their quotas but the fishing is poor. Captain Sig takes the Northwestern on a risky excursion to the northwest for blue king crab. The high seas are fighting everyone.

Two storms converge in the the last week of king crab season. Time bandit, heading home, struggles to navigate a narrow channel, False Pass, in heavy seas. The Northwestern continues its pursuit of blue king crab while the Wizard switches to the lucrative baridi crab.

Getting set for opilio crab season the Time Bandit's crew has some fun with their new greenhorn. The Wizard is a little tougher on theirs. The Cornelia Marie starts the season in dry dock. The rest face ice.

The ice storm prevented the fleet from reaching their planned fishing grounds so thy have no idea what to expect as they pull in their first sting of opilio crab pots. What they find is ice, heavy seas, seasickness, injury and the wrong kind of crab.

After a poor start to the opilio crab season the captains head to their favorite fishing grounds. As crew members can't or won't pull their weight the rest of the crew gets down on them. Then the Coast Guard comes to the rescue of a crewman with heart trouble.

After last night's failed rescue a second Coast Guard team arrives to rescue the fisherman who suffered a heart attack. The fleet finds crab. Loaded, the Northwestern attempts a dangerous and tense night passage into St. Paul to unload. Serious family matters come to the surface on the Cornelia Marie.

On the Cornelia Marie Captain Phil comes to grip with his son Jakes's drug addiction. Phil and a couple other skippers contemplate retirement and who can take charge of their legacy. Captain Sig has to deliver some hard news to a deck hand. The fleet returns to unload and is reminded that bad things happen in port too.

Captain Phil is sent to Anchorage for medical treatment leaving no one certified to run the boat. The Hilstrands pick a new captain. A greenhorn gets called on his attitude. News of Captain Phil's condition circulates to the boats at sea.

Captain Phil's boys go to Anchorage and are briefed on his condition. But they turn against each other as they struggle to deal with the situation. Jake, deckhand on the Northwestern, is feeling the tension of his missing father. Three others are injured and Edger is thinking he needs some time off but Captain Sig is irritated he hasn't trained a replacement. The Wizard navigates an ice flow. The Kodiak finally finds a happy hunting ground but looses loads of crab to poorly set traps. The time Bandit battles hyper-cold.

In eerily calms seas Captain Andy juggles crew assignments with adverse results and the crew boarders on insubordinate. The Northwestern continues to grind it out with mediocre numbers. Edgar, who's just about had enough of crabbing, starts training his replacements. Captain Phil begins recovering faster than expected. After off-loading Captain Bill cleans out troublesome crew members. Then the fleet is battered by heavy seas in a massive storm.

Battling 30 foot seas Captain Sig calls a halt and heads for port. The Kodiak tests two new deckhands in sub-zero temperatures. The Wizard finds great fishing grounds but the captain is worried about ice and a sluggish crew. The Cornelia Marie remains in port mourning the lost of her skipper.

One hour celebrating the life of the great captain Phil Harris. Everyone from the Harris boys to the captains and crews of all the boats in the Bering sea tell there stories they had with Captain Harris.

Tension runs high on the Northwestern. Edgar Hansen is fed up with the 22 year marathon of pain, and confronts older brother Sig. Josh Harris returns to the Cornelia Marie and the Opilio Season ends with a harrowing mayday.