DEADLIEST CATCH Cornelia Marie is not returning for Season 13

Normally when I do a story about cast shake ups it is in reference to The Real Housewives or Love and Hip Hop, but today Captain Josh Harris officially announced that his boat the Cornelia Marie will not be filming for Deadliest Catch Season 13 after appearing in all 12 previous seasons.

The announcement came via a Facebook video on the Cornelia Marie’s Facebook page in which Josh read a written statement. He emphasizes that the decision to not include the Cornelia Marie next season was entirely that of Discovery and the production company in charge of Deadliest Catch and that it had nothing to do with money. Here is the full video followed by a transcript of the statement as read by Josh:

Thank you to all for your patience. I had a family matter to attend to, so I have had to leave the boat to come home and take care of a few things.

First and foremost, we want to thank everybody for all of your messages and wishes. The Cornelia Marie captains and crew really appreciate and are humbled by your outpouring of support.

I am here today to set things straight in regards to the filming of Season 13 of Deadliest Catch. The Cornelie Marie and her crew are making their way out to the fishing grounds today. We do not have a camera crew aboard this king crab season. This was not our decision, and it was not made by the owners nor the captains of the Cornelia. This was not a dispute over money, this was simply a decision made by production Discovery. They have creative control over pretty much everything that airs on Deadliest Catch, and we respect that.

We are fishermen and we will be doing what we love to do this king crab season, but we will be doing it alone. The film crew has been like a family to us, and their absence will weigh heavy in our hearts. It has been a pleasure to take you on my journey as I’ve grown — as a son, a grandson, a brother, a father, and a fisherman and a captain. Your support has meant the world to me and it’s been quite a ride having all of you right there by my side. You have been with me through some of the best times of my life, and you have been there for the absolute worst day of my life. I consider all of you part of my family, and thank you from the bottom of my heart.

We will still be checking in with all of you right here on Facebook, and we still have plans on doing some other things that are real exciting in my near future. I personally have some new projects in the works [that] I am extremely excited about, and I hope all of you will continue to join us and watch me as they unfold.

Thanks again for the love and support, and stay tuned. And, to make this not such a serious note — my dad always told me I could be an astronaut if I wanted to — Well, giddy up! It’s gonna happen man! So stay tuned, and you know, things will unfold.

But, so no petitions are needed — none of that stuff. We love everybody and thank you very much to the world for watching me for the past decade here and we will be in touch, so keep in touch with our page and we’re going to do some amazing things!

Peace and love to everybody, and we’ll talk to you guys soon in the near future. Bye!

Wait, so Josh is going to be an astronaut?! Perhaps this is a new series titled Deadliest Launch? 😉

So what are your thoughts on Discovery essentially firing the Cornelia Marie crew? It’s unfortunate, but I completely understand from a business standpoint as production tries to keep things fresh on one of the longest running reality shows in television history. But still, I will certainly miss the captains and crew of the Cornelia Marie! It just won’t be the same without them.