A body recovered from the sea at Kawau Bay yesterday has been confirmed as one of two missing fishermen.
The men, one aged 22 and the other in his 30s, were last seen when they set off from Martins Bay near Warkworth at 5pm on Tuesday, telling loved ones they "wouldn't be long".
Nick Stubbs, 22, and his friend loved fishing, despite the fact Mr Stubbs could not swim.
Debris from their red 14ft fibreglass dinghy was found yesterday morning. A body was located around four hours later in the water near Kawau Island, but police are yet to confirm the identity of the man or the cause of death.
However, it is believed to be that of the older man.
Police confirmed this morning the body was that of one of the missing men. Both the men's names will released later today, police said.
Rodney area commander, Inspector Mark Fergus, said it was not yet known what caused the men to get into trouble.
"At this stage we don't know [what happened the men], we're focussing our efforts more on finding the remaining man," he said, speaking on TV3's Firstline programme.
The cause of death was "a case for the coroner to look at", he said.
The search for the missing fisherman will continue this morning, with crews already assembling at the Coastguard Marine Rescue Centre for a briefing.
"Overnight we had our police launch in the area, which conducted a technical search," Mr Fergus said.
"We were using thermal imaging equipment and some underwater sonar, and we'll also be evaluating the data that came out of that search."
The search would be focussed in the Kawau Bay area, and teams would be analysing the tides, currents and winds in the area, "and what effect they may possibly have on expanding the search area", Mr Fergus said,
"Conditions again are reasonably favourable, we're experiencing light winds at the moment. It is expected to pick up slightly during the morning, but nothing that should hamper the search."
Police would also be providing support for the missing men's families, he said, who have been holding a vigil at the scene since yesterday.
"It's a very distressing time for them, they're a very tight family, it's a tight community. They're receiving a lot of support and messages of good wishes."
