Good vs. Bad
While everyone is out hunting for crabs, Discovery seems to want to establish a narrative of good versus evil. As a result, Deadliest Catch generally has a villain for the audience to root against. Since there are villains in real life, why not in reality TV?
The producers scout for potential antagonists to shape the show’s narrative. The cast does a lot of the work so Discovery doesn’t have to. Captain Keith Colburn, for example, was one of the show’s earliest villains before Elliott Neese stepped up to take his place. In reality, everyone has their own set of problems, so the villains you see on Deadliest Catch aren’t actually evildoers.