Capt. Phil Harris of the Cornelia Marie, one of the ships on the popular Deadliest Catch series, has suffered a stroke.

News has come out that Capt. Phil Harris suffered a stroke on Jan. 30th while the Cornelia Marie was in port at St. Paul Island in Alaska, off loading a cargo of Opilio crabs.  Fans of the series Deadliest Catch will be familiar with this being the second half of the season, which is always the rougher portion of the show.

He was was immediately taken to the medical center in St. Paul, the same facility he was taken to when he suffered a blood clot two years ago.

Upon further examination he was medivaced to Anchorage, where he underwent surgery sometime during the evening of Jan. 30th.  His sons Jake and Josh were both at his side during the surgery, and a family friend named Derek Ray has flown to St. Paul to become relief skipper of the Cornelia Marie for the remainer of the Opilio season.

Jake and Josh updated the Discovery Channel on Feb. 1st that their father was resting comfortably, and was recovering.  They promised to pass along more information as it became available.

Fans of the show will remember that two years ago, Capt. Harris suffered a blood clot while out at sea, and was informed not to return to fishing for the remainder of that season.  The following year he skipped the King Crab season (the first half of the season each year on the television series), but did return for Opilio season.  While his health was not back to 100 percent, he did seem to be improving as the season wore on.  There is no word as of yet as to how he had been fairing this year.

As the Cornelia Marie is one of the featured ships of the series, Capt. Harris’ stroke is sure to be a central focus of the Opilio portion of this season, which should premiere sometime in April, although no official announcement has been made yet.

My most heartfelt well wishes to Capt. Phil for a speedy recovery.

Update Feb. 3rd: According to TMZ, Capt. Harris has awoken from his medically induced coma, and is talking.

One really good sign — his sons tell us that shortly after waking up, Harris told his doctors and nurses: “Don’t f**k up.”

UPDATE 02/10/10: Capt. Phil Harris of the Cornelia Marie has passed away