Fishery officers save nine-year-old from drowning

Two honorary fishery officers helped prevent a nine-year-old boy from drowning over Labour weekend.

Dean Kaire and Phil Boughey were conducting an afternoon inspection at Bucklands Beach in Auckland when they noticed a young boy calling for help.

"At first we thought he was mucking about but quickly realised he was in serious trouble," Mr Kaire said.

"We dumped our vests and dived into the water - overalls and all."

Mr Kaire said the water was over his head when he reached the boy, who was about 25 metres offshore.

"It was extremely difficult to stay afloat with overalls and boots on," he said.

The men called an ambulance once they had pulled the boy to shore because he appeared to be in mild shock, Mr Kaire said.

The boy is under observation at Middlemore Children's Hospital.

Mr Kaire said he had since spoken to ambulance officers, who assured him that the boy would be fine.

"They say [the boy is] very lucky to be alive but should recover soon with only a sore throat."