Crab fisher's family still searching beach

The family of a drowned crabber are still searching the beach for him.

The family of an Auckland man who went missing while crab fishing off a Northland beach have maintained a vigil at the beach hoping he is found.

A commercial dive team, paid for by the missing man's family, spent most of yesterday searching a grid pattern in the water just off Uretiti.

They used a side scan sonar attached to the boat which scanned the ocean floor and projected the images on to a screen aboard the boat. A stretch of beach about 1km long on either side of where the 35-year-old Auckland man was last seen setting crab pots was searched with no luck.

Bream Bay police Sergeant Simon Craig said the man's wife and other family members and friends remained on the beach waiting while the search continued.

Officers also did sweeps of the beach but were unable to find any signs of the man, who has yet to be formally named.

The dive team was to speak with the family late yesterday and find out if they would be back on the water today. Maritime New Zealand said the tragedy highlighted the importance of wearing a lifejacket. The father of two was wearing a wetsuit but had left a lifejacket on the beach. He fell from the inflatable boat and quickly disappeared in the water just after midday on Sunday.

MNZ deputy director and chairman of the Safer Boating Forum Lindsay Sturt said as summer approached more than 1 million New Zealanders were expected to take to the water in recreational boats.

Last year 27 people died in recreational boating accidents and to date this year 17 have died.

Maritime rules make the skipper responsible for each person on board having a life jacket or buoyancy aid.