In the film's beginning, the Andrea Gail is shown offloading an unimpressive catch, and Billy Tyne is depicted as having "lost his touch." In reality, Tyne and his crew returned from that trip with an abundant catch. Likewise, the relationship between Tyne and Linda Greenlaw was fictitious. Tyne and Greenlaw were barely acquainted in real life.
Mark Wahlberg stayed in Bobby Shatford's room above the Crow's Nest bar, and even checked ID's at the door one night.
After the traumatic shooting of The Abyss (1989), Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio swore she would never do another film involving water. Fortunately all of her scenes were land-based, so Wolfgang Petersen was able to persuade her to come onboard.
None of the fish in the movie were real. They were all either rubber (dead fish) or animatronic (alive fish). Director Wolfgang Petersen was an animal rights supporter.
Casting Mark Wahlberg was easy: he comes from Boston and had George Clooney's recommendation. According to Wolfgang Petersen, "It was a handshake and he got the job."