The official cause of death has been determined for Deadliest Catch deckhand Todd Meadows. According to his death certificate obtained by TMZ, Meadows died from “drowning with probable hypothermia” and “submersion of body in cold water”.
Meadows was pronounced dead at 5:15 PM on February 25 in an “accident” aboard the Aluetian [sic] Lady crab vessel in the Bering Sea. according to the document. Meadows had been working on the Aleutian Lady, one of the vessels filmed for the long-running show, fishing for crabs on the Bering Sea. It had previously been reported that Meadows had fallen overboard but details were not clear. The Coast Guard has been investigating Meadows’ death.
“On February 25, 2026, at 5:05 p.m. local Alaska time, Coast Guard watchstanders at the Arctic District command center in Juneau received notification from the fishing vessel Aleutian Lady, reporting that a crew member by the name of Todd Meadows fell overboard approximately 170 miles north of Dutch Harbor,” read the statement from the federal agency. “He was recovered unresponsive by the crew approximately ten minutes later. First aid and attempts to resuscitate were unsuccessful, and the crew transported the deceased to Dutch Harbor.”
Deadline understands that Deadliest Catch was in production on Season 22 when the incident occurred and the Aleutian Lady, led by Rick Shelford and his crew, was one of the vessels that was being captured for the show. It was at the end of its production cycle when the accident occurred, with The Aleutian Lady being the last of the Season 22 vessels still at sea.
Shelford, who has starred on the show since Season 19, called Meadow’s death the “most tragic day in the history of the Aleutian Lady”.
Safety on the Aleutian Lady has been a source of unscripted drama on Deadliest Catch before, prompting Sean Dwyer’s departure from the vessel before he was set to co-captain a trip.
