Search for missing fisherman continues off NSW Far South Coast
Emergency services were alerted on Saturday night that a 56-year-old man had not returned to shore from a fishing trip after leaving Batemans Bay Harbour earlier that day.
Since his disappearance, a multi-agency search has been underway to find the man.
Authorities say they are hopeful they will locate the fishermen while weather conditions are favourable.
The current priority search area is offshore Narooma and Bermagui, according to Marine Rescue NSW zone duty operations manager Stuart Massey.
Mr Massey said the search to find the man was a race against the clock.
"It's quite a challenging search out there because the search area is so vast," he said.
"The longer the time period goes, the bigger the area that we have to search.
"We're just hoping that we can get a result today … If not, then we'll keep searching."
Conditions on the water have been favourable for search crews with swell height well below 1 metre and gentle winds.
Mr Massey said he believed the 56-year-old man was heading towards the continental shelf, targeting tuna and had communicated with people onshore throughout the day while on the water.
"We're reasonably confident of where he was … But where he is now, we're unsure and we're just doing the best we can to locate him," he said.
"The search areas are determined by the Water Police through their drift modelling areas that they use.
"There's a high probability that we will be able to locate the man but in saying that, there's no guarantees with anything.
"We're just out there, doing the best that we can."
Multiple interstate aircraft are involved in the search, according to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority.
NSW Police are currently not treating the incident as suspicious.
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