Longtime Deadliest Catch engineer Canyon Willis has just failed a drug test on the Pacific Mariner after he attempted to use someone else’s urine to rig the results. The incident has left Willis unable to join the fishing crew during crabbing season on the reality series. The news comes right after Captain Jack Bunnell wanted to put his crew members through the test to confirm that none of them were operating under the influence.
The drug tests took place during Deadliest Catch Season 20, Episode 8, which aired on August 6, 2024. Engineer Willis had to take the test twice because the first time around, the temperature of his urine was noted to be far from normal. So, Willis had to wait three hours before he could redo it. Now, the reason this had happened was because he had used someone else’s urine. After all, he knew that he couldn’t pass the test using his own.
During the episode, the toxicology screener is heard telling the engineer how “synthetic urine does not work” and that it “goes in a different direction where it has to be observed.” Hearing this, the rest of the crew is curious to see what is going on with Willis’s test. That’s when Willis realizes that his lie has been caught. And while he did take the second test three hours later, he obviously failed that too.
Captain Jack Prioritized the Million Dollar Operation Instead of His Friendship With Willis
The entire crew was shocked to discover that Engineer Willis hadn’t passed the drug test. However, while Bunnell was clearly unhappy with everything that had unfolded, he knew he had to make a difficult decision. The captain told the cameras that he wasn’t going to let anything affect the operation. “It’s a million-dollar operation. We’ve got to keep moving forward, we’ll find somebody,” he said while announcing that he was letting Willis go.
Despite his friendship with Canyon Willis, Jack knew he had to prioritize his work and find new crew members. Bunnell confesses that Willis is one of his best friends and it broke his heart to be the one to tell him that he was no longer part of the operation. Bunnell added that while he might have disagreed with the decision, he also understood that the boat had to keep making money. “You have to make decisions for the business,” added the captain.
Of course, the decision comes at a great cost to Canyon Willis as well. The engineer is losing about $5K in earnings. However, the good news is that if he passes another drug test in a few months, he will be allowed to join the crew in January 2025. While speaking to the Captain and packing his bags, Willis promises his friend that he will be there for the next crabbing season.
