Phil Harris suffered a stroke while in port off-loading from the F/V Cornelia Marie. He has been transported to a medical facility and is receiving the best care possible. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and we will make more information available as we know it.

Captain Phil Harris suffered a stroke yesterday at St. Paul Island in Alaska. He was medivacked to Anchorage and is currently at a hospital receiving treatment.

I didn’t say anything earlier, so family can learn from us instead of through the internet. I know anybody who is reading this also cares about Phil, so we thought you should know as well.

Phil is at a good hospital and receiving the best care possible. My mother, Cornelia Marie Devlin and Jake Harris are with him at the hospital. Josh is staying on the boat to help the new relief skipper who is flying out there today. The boat is in the harbor now, but needs to be able to leave in case the ice shifts and moves in.

Our engineer Steve found Capt. Phil on the floor of his stateroom Friday. He was immediately taken to the clinic in St. Paul – the same place he was treated when he had a blood clot two years ago.

As soon as we receive more information about Phil, we will pass it on to you.

Last night Capt. Phil underwent surgery. Both of his sons, Josh and Jake were at his side. Josh flew in from St. Paul to join his brother. It may be some time before we know anything substantial about Phil’s condition.

Thank you to everyone who has sent good wishes and prayers for Phil, his family and the Cornelia Marie crew.

An old family friend of the F/V Cornelia Marie, Derek Ray flew to St. Paul to take on the role of relief skipper for the rest of the Opilio season.

SEATTLE -- Phill Harris, the captain of a Seattle-based boat featured in the show "Deadliest Catch" has suffered a stroke.

Harris' death was announced on the show's Web site on Tuesday night.

"It is with great sadness that we say goodbye to our dad - Captain Phil Harris," the man's two sons, Jake and Josh Harris said on the show's Web site. 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."

Harris, the captain of the Cornelia Marie, suffered what his family described as a massive stroke on Jan. 29 while the boat was in port at St. Paul Island, Alaska. The 53-year-old man was flown to Anchorage for surgery.

Last week, Harris' sons said he showed some "good signs of improvement, squeezing our hands and even summoning his trademark Captain's bluntness by telling the doctors and nurses, 'Don't (expletive) up,'" they wrote on the show's Web site.

The Discovery Channel issued a statement in the wake of Harris' death that said, in part, "Phil was a devoted father and loyal friend to all who knew him. We will miss his straightforward honesty, wicked sense of humor and enormous heart."

Harris was a 32-year veteran of the fishing industry. His two sons, Jake and Josh, worked as deckhands aboard his boat.

'Deadliest Catch,' a reality show depicts the crab fishing industry in the dangerous waters off Alaska.