Three fishermen have died in waters off Beachport in South Australia’s south-east.  (ABC News: Sam Bradbrook)

In short:

The bodies of three fishermen, aged between 65 and 74, have been recovered in waters off South Australia’s south-east.

A local superintendent says the trio did not appear to be wearing life jackets.

Three New South Wales fishermen have died in waters off South Australia’s Limestone Coast, SA Police says.

Police said the alarm was raised about 2:30pm yesterday, when the three men did not return to shore at Beachport in the state’s south-east.

A search was launched with the combined efforts of police’s Water Operations, PolAir, the State Emergency Service, local boaties, and other aerial assets, including drones.

Police said the men, aged 65, 67 and 74, were found dead and their bodies were recovered.

Officer-in-charge of the Limestone Coast region, Superintendent Trent Cox, said the trio did not appear to be wearing life jackets on the 6.7-metre vessel.

The bodies of the three fishermen have been recovered, police say. (ABC News: Sam Bradbrook)

“From what we can gather, there were life jackets aboard; sadly, it does not appear any of the gentlemen were wearing them,” he told ABC South East SA.

“One death is a tragedy, but three is unthinkable.

“They’ve made a poor decision to go out there and paid the ultimate price, unfortunately.”

In a later press conference, Superintendent Cox said a member of the public flying a light aircraft located the overturned boat between Beachport and South End.

“Sadly, he also spotted one of the missing fishers washed up on the beach,” he said.

He said the other two men were later found by PolAir.

Superintendent Cox said locals had described the conditions on the water yesterday as “dangerous” and “not suitable” for recreational or professional fishers.

“It’s probably instructive that a lot of professional fishers did not go out in those conditions,” he said.

He said an examination of the boat, which was retrieved this morning, would endeavour to get “an understanding of what caused the boat to overturn”.

A ute and a trailer believed to belong to the NSW fishermen.  (Supplied)

Members of the public have been asked not to collect debris from the boat and instead to leave it in situ for police to collect.

“Members of the public trying to do the right thing may interfere with crucial evidence that leads to identification of how this incident might have happened,” Superintendent Cox said.

Local fisher Alan Campbell told ABC South East SA he tried to warn the men about rough conditions a day earlier.

“I said, ‘Mate, however big your boat is, there’s a wave to match it, and these aren’t the conditions to be out in that boat,’” Mr Campbell said.

 “When I saw the trailer on the ramp, I was very concerned.

“Before I rang the police, I drove around the beach … but I couldn’t see anything.”

Mr Campbell then raised the alarm with authorities.

Charan Muduganti says many locals avoided fishing during rough conditions yesterday. (ABC News: Sam Bradbrook)

Beachport Tavern manager Charan Muduganti said he saw emergency services and locals attend the boat ramp yesterday afternoon in an attempt to find the men.

“Lot of boaties want to help them out … but it’s kind of rough weather yesterday,” he said.

“I had a little hope they would be somewhere alive, but, yeah, it’s so sad.”

Mr Muduganti said many locals chose not to head out to sea yesterday due to rough conditions.

“It was really rough weather, very high tides, very high waves, and it was really windy, that’s the worst part,” he said.

Police will prepare a report for the coroner.