Deadliest Catch, Season 7 Premiere, Episode 1 Sees the Cornelia Marie Adjust Without Captain Phil Harris

Deadliest Catch, Season 7 Premiere, Episode 1 premiered on Discovery Channel Tuesday night, which didn't have the physical presence of the late Captain Phil Harris. Two ships not in Season 6 also debuted, the Seabrooke and Ramblin' Rose. The two hour show opened with a voiceover by the late Captain, who talked about his sons continuing on with crab fishing just before his ashes were spread out into the sea as fireworks shot off. Narrator Mike Rowe returns for the Season 7 episodes that take place on the Bering Sea as seven boats search for various crab. The crews have to face a gigantic storm and mostly low numbers to begin the season.

Jake Harris Holds Up the Cornelia Marie on the Season 7 Premiere, Episode 1 of Deadliest Catch

On the Northwestern, Captain Sig Hansen charts his boat's course to new hunting grounds. His brother Edgar returns again, despite threatening to leave the last few years. The new hire Mark bites off the head of a fish before the pots are dropped for good luck. Jake Anderson is challenged with making the meal for the crew while working on the deck, too, managing to pull it off.

Time Bandit captains Andy and Johnathan Hillstrand are a bit at odds over fishing in the same ground they covered, as it's the fourth consecutive year they've gone there. But the crew must fight the storm as the crab pots are dropped, and when the first pots are raised, there's very little to cheer about on Deadliest Catch, Season 7 Premiere, Episode 1.

On the Wizard, Captain Keith Colburn chooses to fish further south in the "Black Hills" as a bad storm approaches. Colburn is hoping to recoup the money he's invested. He hears a call about a cargo ship's crewmember suffering a broken neck and compound fracture, and next, the helicopter rescue crew is shown making a daring rescue amidst a storm and not much room to hoist the victim. Their first hoisted pots don't bring a lot, and one $1,000 pot is lost, too.

On the Cornelia Marie, the new captain Derrick Ray has taken the helm, and at Dutch Harbor, he and the crew with Phil Harris' sons Josh and Jake get the boat ready for running. Ray has a "my way or the highway" approach and made it clear to the boys before he agreed to take over. Jake appears to be doing better, after past problems with drugs, but he gets drug tested (negative result) before he can go on the trip on the Season 7 premiere, Episode 1 showing of Deadliest Catch. Jake and engineer Steve go missing from the boat, so the captain hunts for them. Jake shows up 2.5 hours later, then Steve shows up, but the latter verbally spars and has a shoving match with the captain though no one is fired or quits. The boat arrives at its Blue crab fishing spot and an albatross is spotted flying around, a good omen, but the show ends before viewers know what the first pot nets.

A Ramblin' Rose Deckhand is Fired on the Season 7 Premiere, Episode 1 of Deadliest Catch

On the Seabrooke, Captain Scott Campbell prides himself in being innovative. He starts the season off with a demo on how to safely throw out the lines and pots, for he lost a crew member called "Moose" two years earlier in an accident. After 17 hours of the pots being in the water, some great crab numbers come up.

The 108-foot long Ramblin' Rose is captained by Elliott Neese, a young captain not even 30 years old. He wants to be sail farther north than the other crews, but first, there's a birthday party for the deck boss Kevin. But the boat's progress is delayed by bad weather, and has to soon dock overnight. With that, someone in his crew has left a galley mess via eating and drinking the night before. Neese is so mad that he's ready to send the offender home, which "Face" becomes the fall guy for the deed. They eventually go to the Cornelia Marie's area to fish.

After one episode of Season 7 of Deadliest Catch, the Seabrooke leads with 40,000 pounds, the Wizard has 5,000; the Kodiak has 4,000 (even though they weren't featured); the Time Bandit has 1,000, while the others have goose eggs.

Sources:

"New Blood", Deadliest Catch, April 12, 2011, Discovery Channel