October in Dutch Harbor means only one thing: king crab season. Bering Sea weather reports warn of some of the roughest seas the fleet has seen in years. A massive storm system is moving in. The captains must decide whether to shove off or batten down.

In the pre-dawn hours of October 17, the king crab fishing fleet are enjoying rare, calm weather on the Bering Sea. Though the weather is cooperating momentarily, there is word of an impending storm and the decision must be made to run or to fish.

One of the worst storms in years is raging on the crab grounds, but the crab fishing fleet must continue its hunt for the deadliest catch: Alaskan King Crab. In spite of a torrential downpour and a blinding snowstorm, the crews push on.

After a profitable offload on Akutan Island, Captain Sig Hansen and the Northwestern crew are back on the trail of the Alaskan King Crab. Meanwhile, the crew of the Maverick witness a change in command as their Captain stands down.

The Aleutian Ballad is knocked on its side by a vicious wave, stripping the ship of power and leaving the crew scrambling in the dark. Meanwhile, the exhausted crews of the Time Bandit, the Maverick, and the Rollo endure rough weather.

January in Dutch Harbor, Alaska finds the fishermen returning to their boats for the Opilio Crab fishing season. As crews return, they'll prep their boats, the bait, and the supplies and hope that this season will be even more productive than the last.

The arctic storm continues as the Time Bandit pushes on with a limited amount of bait and the Rollo and the Maverick drop their pots quickly to avoid rolling. With the frustrated Cornelia Marie stuck in port, the Northwestern sticks with successful Cod.

Bad crab and long days fray nerves and cause fights on the Maverick and Rollo. The trailblazing Time Bandit presses north into the arctic onslaught and Sig Hansen wakes from a short nap to find the Northwestern lost after Edgar sits on wheel watch.

The Time Bandit finds their ice pack as the Rollo fishes through gnarly weather. The crew of the Maverick must work through a shipwide flu epidemic while the Cornelia Marie has trouble finding their Opilio crab. Sig moves on from the Cod to Opilio Crab.

Freezing weather and severe icing claim its first victim on the Cornelia Marie when deckhand Dave Gilbert takes a spill. Also, as the Time Bandit navigates the northern ice pack, the crews on the Maverick attempt to jury-rig a shattered stiff arm.

Rollo and Maverick race back to the crab grounds after a heavy offload on St. Paul Island. The Rollo's Captain Eric is cross with his crew after miscalculation results in forty thousand more pounds of crab than scheduled.

Facing the end of the season, the fleet is scrambling to the deep and pushing the fishing into overdrive. But when the job is over, a new challenge awaits-getting back to port in one piece.