Body Pulled From New Bedford Waters

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. - A fisherman’s body was recovered from New Bedford Harbor on Tuesday, and the search for a second man who also went into the water was suspended.

Police said they will continue their search on Wednesday.

Executive Director Kristin Decas of New Bedford's Harbor Development Commission said three men had been trying to board a fishing vessel at a pier, when two apparently slipped and fell in.

A third man was released from the hospital with minor injuries.

New Bedford Police Capt. Joseph Cordeiro said a man's body was recovered near the pier after a 911 call at 3:40 a.m.

Dive teams, a state police helicopter and investigators spent all day long searching for the missing man.

Police Chief Ronald Teachman said it's too early for investigators to say how the men ended up in the water. Their identities weren't immediately released.

"We're trying to trace the three individual's steps," he said. "Where they were, where they left, how they got here, and what led up to this tragedy."

The incident has left some fellow fishermen distraught.

"You get real tight when you are all together," Jared Long said. "You're all out there at sea for 12 days together, sometimes longer."

Decas said the men worked on the vessel Arcturus, which is owned by a company in Maine and has been fishing out of New Bedford for years.