Sig Hansen
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| Sig Hansen | |
 Sig Hansen aboard the F/V Northwestern.
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| Born | April 28, 1966  Seattle, Washington |
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| Occupation | Captain |
Sigurd Lille Hansen (born April 28, 1966) is the Seattle, Washington-based Captain of the fishing vessel Northwestern. Hansen has been prominently featured in all seasons of the documentary television series Deadliest Catch, where he also serves as technical advisor for the production.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
Hansen, one of many Seattle-natives of Norwegian ancestry, is the first generation of his family born in the United States. His father and grandfather pioneered Opilio crab fishing in Alaska as a way of giving crab boats a chance to earn money year-round rather than in short mostly late-year seasons. Sig began fishing at age 14, working on his family's boat. After he graduated from high school, he began fishing year-round, spending on average 10 months per year in Alaska and the Bering Sea. Occasionally he would also fish Mackerel and Cod in Norway during the summer.
[edit] Career
Sig started as a deckhand on his father's boat before his teenage years, working his way up the ranks and proving himself as a capable deckhand and steady presence at sea at an age when most young men his age were making their way through junior high and high school. At 22, he began relieving captains on the Northwestern as well as doing short-haul captain's stints on other boats in the fleet. By 24, Sig began running the Northwestern full time. Over the years, the Northwestern has been a top producer with an excellent safety record; the Northwestern has never had a single death at sea in the nearly 20 years Sig has been at its helm, and its serious injury rate is significantly lower than other boats in the Bering Sea fleet as well. The Northwestern won the final derby seasons for King crab (2005) and opilio crab (2006), taking home the titles for both the highest poundage caught and the highest dollars earned. Because of its highliner status, its share of the quota under the IFQ system is one of the largest in the fleet.
Currently, Hansen serves as the full-time captain during King crab and opilio crab seasons on the Northwestern, with his youngest brother Edgar as deckboss and his middle brother Norman as a deckhand. During non-crab seasons, Sig takes the summer off and Edgar runs the Northwestern as a tendering vessel for fishing boats needing to offload catches.
[edit] Personal life
Hansen is married and has two daughters. The family lives in Seattle, near the rest of the Hansen clan.
Sig, like his brothers, speaks fluent Norwegian and says he learned Norwegian long before he learned English because his Norwegian parents spoke the language at home. He says he follows the Norwegian fisherman's diet while at sea: Coffee, cigarettes, and chocolate, which he admits has led to a battle of the bulging waistline.
[edit] External links
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