Story highlights Tony Lara took over for the late Phil Harris, who died in 2010

Crew of the ship he captained praise him as "a true friend"

(CNN) Tony Lara, who appeared on Discovery Channel's "Deadliest Catch" in 2011, has died, according to law enforcement in South Dakota and the show's Facebook page. He was 50.

Lara died while in Sturgis, South Dakota, for the famed motorcycle rally that takes over the city each August, according to Meade County Sheriff Ron Merwin.

No cause of death was immediately available. An autopsy was to be performed Tuesday, Merwin said.

Lara captained the F/V Cornelia Marie following the death of Captain Phil Harris , who also appeared on the show. He appeared in six episodes of the reality series, which follows fishing crews working the inhospitable Bering Sea southwest of Alaska.

Yesterday we lost a member of the Catch Family. May you RIP Captain Tony Lara. We know that you are up in heaven watching over the Cornelia Marie and rest of the Bering Sea fleet. http://dsc.tv/QFKDA Posted by Deadliest Catch on Sunday, August 9, 2015

"May you RIP Captain Tony Lara," the show's Facebook page posted Sunday. "We know that you are up in heaven watching over the Cornelia Marie and rest of the Bering Sea fleet."