By Alex Mitchell 

Concerns are held for a missing fisherman after a multi-pronged search for the man found his empty boat off Australia’s east coast.

A number of agencies have been searching for the 56-year-old man since Saturday night when he failed to return from a fishing trip after departing from Batemans Bay earlier that day.

But police suspended the search on Tuesday after finding his eight-metre Arvor cruiser off the NSW south coast.

Nobody was on board when police found the boat some 150km east of Narooma.

It followed unconfirmed sightings of the boat by members of the public earlier in the search.

Fishermen on board a nearby commercial vessel helped authorities stop the missing boat in what they said were challenging conditions.

Police boats will resume searching for the man in coming days.

The man left Batemans Bay Marina on the NSW South Coast about 6am on Saturday.

Contact was made with the man about 10am but emergency services were called when he failed to return that night.

The search initially focused on an area between Ulladulla and Merimbula but was widened on Monday.

Led by the Marine Area Command, vessels, fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters scoured as far north as Port Stephens and as far south as the Victorian border.