'Deadliest Catch' star Sig Hansen admits fear of death is making him rethink retirement plans

After decades of battling brutal waters and risking his life on the tumultuous Bering Sea, "Deadliest Catch" star Captain Sig Hansen admits he's starting to see things differently - especially when it comes to retirement.

The longtime star of the hit Discovery Channel series confessed that fear, loss and family have changed his perspective, and although the 59-year-old said last year that he had no plans to call it quits, he has now reconsidered.

"Well, I'm a fisherman. You've got to remember, you're talking to a professional liar here," Hansen joked in an interview with People. "No, I think I've got a few more years left in me. I think about it all the time and when I do think about 'retiring,' it's only because I've lost so many people, and I'm more fearful every time we go out on the water."

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Hansen added that the fear has become harder to ignore as he and his crew braved unforgiving 50-foot seas in treacherous waters.

"Part of it is just, you think about your own mortality, and I'm fearful," Hansen said.

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"I don't have the same mentality I did as before, where you look at everything as a challenge. And it's still challenging, but it's not the same."

Hansen continued, "I've been there, done that, and now I want to spend more time with my family, my wife, look at all the years and decades that she's given up for me waiting. It's got to go the other way, and so you see things differently, that's all."

The Norwegian-American has weathered countless storms and personal health scares during his time on "Deadliest Catch," including a heart attack in 2016 and the emotional toll of losing fellow fishermen over the years.

While Hansen isn't quite ready to hang up his boots, he explained that his priorities may be shifting, as the call of home is growing louder than the call of the sea.

"I will continue to do it," he says of captaining the Northwestern. "But retirement is obvious."

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These days, Hansen has a new reason to stay closer to home.

"I've got four grandkids now," he continued to share with People. "I used to laugh at all these old-timers when they'd brag about their grandkids and talk about how that's their whole world. I'm like, 'You guys are nuts. Can't we talk about fishing?' And now, I'm one of those guys. Can't help it. And I love it, I really do."

In the Season 21 premiere of "Deadliest Catch," which aired Friday, Hansen teamed up with returning captain Johnathan Hillstrand as the two headed to the abandoned Adak Island in search of a rumored giant king crab.

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Co-captaining the Time Bandit, the veteran fishermen kicked off a modern-day gold rush - but the race for the rare crab took a dangerous turn when chaos erupted aboard the Titan Explorer and forced Captain Jake Anderson's crew to abandon ship.

As the crews pushed into uncharted waters to secure the lucrative haul, they were met with brutal conditions and dangerous mechanical failures - turning the high-stakes hunt for crab into a fight for survival.

"Deadliest Catch" airs Fridays at 8PM ET/PT on Discovery Channel.