Unalaska, AK – Captain Phil Harris of the F/V Cornelia Marie and one of the stars of the Deadliest Catch died Tuesday night at a hospital in Anchorage. He suffered a stroke on January 29 while off-loading crab in St. Paul and was taken by medevac to Anchorage. According the Discovery Channel website, on February 3 he showed some signs of improvement and spoke with his two sons, Josh and Jake, who are crew members on the crab vessel. He died Tuesday night in the hospital at the age of 53.

His sons said in a statement on the Discovery Channel website, "Dad has always been a fighter and continued to be until the end. For us and the crew, he was someone who never backed down. We will remember and celebrate that strength." The Discovery Channel notes his wicked humor, honesty, and enormous heart. He began fishing when he was 7 years old and captained his first crab boat at 21.

As of mid-day Thursday, fans of the show had left 293 pages of condolences for Harris's family and friends on the Discovery Channel website.