A SEARCH of waters around Currarong for a missing fisherman was called off last Monday, amid grave fears for the man who could not swim, and was not wearing a life jacket.
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Searchers had scoured the sea and land off Beecroft Peninsula since the early hours of Monday morning for the missing man.
The man was fishing with three other friends when he was swept off rocks at Mermaids Inlet at around 2am Monday morning.
A life ring was thrown to the man however his friends lost sight of him in the water and raised the alarm.
Later on Monday searchers located an esky and an angel ring in the water near where the man was last seen.
Volunteers from two Marine Rescue NSW Illawarra region units and NSW Police vessels from Port Kembla assisted with the search in rough conditions with swells of around six foot.
A rescue helicopter dropped dye into the water around the search site to determine the changing current conditions.
Marine Rescue NSW Regional Controller Bruce Mitchell said a life ring and esky had been retrieved from the ocean not far from where the man had been washed in.
“We would normally use our craft to search in around the rocks, however the conditions are too rough for us to go out at this time,” he said on Monday.
Marine Rescue vessels Shoalhaven 30, Shoalhaven 31 and Jervis Bay 40 conducted a grid search between Beecroft and Little Beecroft.
