Hours before king season, a massive new boat with a renegade captain discovers the crab are all in one spot. As the fleet races to find the quarter billion-dollar hoard, captains battle each other and the Bering Sea to claim their share of the bounty.
As the fleet chases the king crab super swarm, a decades-old rivalry heats up between Harley and Keith. Young guns Sean and Jake join join forces to set down Sig and Mandy. On the Brenna A, an inattentive greenhorn costs Sean time and money.
Amid the heaviest competition in years, Mandy holds a steady course and hits the king crab jackpot. Jake wins big hauling Sean's pots. With a greenhorn on sorting duty, Sean faces the long arm of Alaska law when the crab in his tanks come up short.
As the first arctic storm of the season arrives, Saga's deck boss takes a knife to the ribs. Josh and Casey's record-setting haul gets interrupted when a hand gets tangled in the coiler. Capt. Bill takes one last stab at motivating a lazy greenhorn.
With Mandy alone at the helm, a freak accident threatens the Northwestern crew. Josh changes course on the Cornelia while Casey sleeps. Harley's launcher snaps at the worst possible moment, and a short circuit cuts power to the Wizard's forward lights.
In the biggest storm of the season, Jake faces a life and death decision when a shifting stack threatens to capsize the Saga. Sig and Mandy haul through angry seas, while Josh and Casey gamble on quota but find there's more on the line than sheer numbers.
The Bering Sea takes a brutal toll on captains and crew. Wild Bill calls the Cornelia for help. Jake confronts a disorderly crew, forcing his toughest decision yet as captain. Josh mans the helm as Casey makes a risky ship-to-ship transfer in high seas.
In the winter season premiere, the coldest weather in nearly a decade threatens to crush hulls and freeze the sea. Monte must fill his tanks fast to get home to his ailing father, while a shocking mishap leaves a Hansen family member grasping for life.
As winter intensifies, Sean faces an engine room fire. Summer Bay deck boss suffers a season-threatening injury. Harley offers a newfound nephew a trial run at greenhorn. Monte races to fill Wizard's Bairdi quota so Keith can say farewell to their father.
Josh and Casey risk a 500 mile trek north to the icy Russian line. Jake tracks his own fast-moving crab horde. Sig does double duty on the Northwestern. The Bering sea cracks the Wizard's 74 year-old steel hull as the Colburns face the loss of their dad.
Josh and Casey haul their all time biggest pots, starting a gold rush to the Russian line. Cpt. Bill gets inside intel, while Harley confirms numbers his own way. As Arctic Storm Elsa builds in fury, the fleet realizes this ice queen casts a deadly spell.
The wrath of Arctic Storm Elsa hits the Cornelia hardest as a breakaway pot thrashes Josh and Casey's crew. Captain Keith orders deckhands onto the stack as Elsa's icy blasts threaten to capsize the Wizard. No rest for Jake as the Saga takes a rogue wave.
As arctic superstorm Elsa intensifies, a rare forecast warns of isolated waves of unusual size. Trapped in the crab-rich northern grounds, the Cornelia Marie, Wizard and Southern Wind haul pots as big as the waves, until one boat faces a 60 foot monster.