Elwood Higgins was one of the three fishermen who has died. Photo: Supplied/Facebook
Residents have gathered at Gisborne's Tatapouri fishing club to raise a glass to the three men they call "good buggers" who died at sea.
The names of the three fishermen whose bodies were found on the Māhia coastline on Wednesday morning have been formally released.
Elwood Higgins, 37, of Gisborne, Taina Sinoti, 33, of Te Hapara, and 38-year-old Damien Macpherson of Te Karaka failed to return from a fishing trip on Monday.
Police say their deaths will be referred to the coroner.
Tatapouri fishing club members have described the loss of their friends as tragic, heartbreaking, and unbelievable.
Sarah Aitken, a keen fisherwoman, knows the Macpherson family. It was Damien's twin brother who found the men this morning, she said.
When two men were spotted alive by a container ship on Tuesday, everyone was holding out for a miracle - but hopes were soon dashed when the Coastguard could not reach them and the search was paused, said Aitken.
"I know ... the helicopter pilots, and I know they would have done anything, anything, to save their mates."
With atrocious conditions preventing a sea search on Tuesday, the fishing community felt helpless, she said.
"Every boat in this harbour would have gone out if they could ... I would have been one of them.
"But do you ... put yourself at risk? But I know so many people would've. I know there was boys up at Māhia, wanting to go out in the IRBs [inflatable rescue boats]. They would have done anything to bring those boys home."
But Aitken and other locals told RNZ they were grateful the sea returned the men to their whānau.
"I mean it's a horrible thing to say, but it's the next best thing, isn't it," Aitken said.
Another member, who did not want to be named, had taken the day off work and headed to the club instead.
He could not concentrate, he said - he just lost two good mates.
"Just good Kiwi blokes, you know ... pretty devastating, really," he said.
He could have been on that boat, having "ummed and ahhed" after seeing Higgins' Facebook post asking if any friends wanted to head out fishing.
But he decided against it as he had too much work to do.
When he heard bodies had been found, his heart broke, he said.
"Especially to hear that they'd been spotted alive, to know that they'd done that whole arvo, night and then yesterday in the water, and they had their chance with that ship going past."
It was horrible to think what must have been going through his friends' minds as they saw the ship, or heard a plane overhead, but were never rescued, he said.
Everyone now wanted to support the men's whānau, he said.
"I think everyone's with them, whatever they can do, they will do ... but what sorta can you do, in a situation like it?"
Another man, who wanted to remain anonymous, also said the men were his friends.
"Pretty sad ... pretty sombre," he said, holding back tears.
Meanwhile, Emergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell - who headed to Tai Rāwhiti today amid wild weather - praised the efforts of search crews.
"There was obviously a serious attempt to try and rescue them, and I feel ... for our Coastguard crew that did a valiant effort to try and get through what was atrocious weather conditions to try and get to them.
"It's just a tragedy all round."
It would have been a tough call to pause the search effort last night, Mitchell said.
"But at the end of the day, you don't want to have a double tragedy."