Sad news today. Phil Harris, who captained the Cornelia Marie on Discovery’s “Deadliest Catch,” has passed away at the age of 53, two weeks after he suffered a stroke. Harris’s condition had improved in recent days until he took a turn for the worse. TMZ brings us this unfortunate quote:

Harris was hospitalized a few weeks ago after suffering a stroke while unloading crabs.

Jake and Josh Harris, the sons who are also featured on “Deadliest Catch,” released this statement:

It is with great sadness that we say goodbye to our dad — Captain Phil Harris. 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. Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and prayers. [via THR]

Notably, Harris should NOT be confused with Paul Watson from “Whale Wars,” the fat, white-haired captain that “South Park” skewered in last season’s “Whale Whores” episode. Which is too bad. If Watson had died I could have recommended “Poker Face” for his funeral.

Joshua Warner, a former deckhand on “Deadliest Catch,” was arrested in Illinois on suspicion of three bank robberies in Eugene, Oregon. In a related story, whoa! People still successfully rob banks?

Eugene police say he is the same Josh Warner who appeared as a greenhorn deckhand on the Alaskan king crab fishing boat Wizard in the Discovery Channel show “Deadliest Catch.” His actions and confrontations with deckhands and the captain made him well known to the show’s followers…

Prior to fishing in Alaska, Warner was a Dungeness crab fisherman on the Oregon coast and a wildland firefighter. [CBS 13]

I don’t condone bank robbery — I’m more of a liquor store man — but I have to admit, that’s a helluva resume for picking up dangerous women. “What do you do?” “I’m a crab fisherman, wildland firefighter, and bank robber. But my real passion is anonymous sex in public.”