Body found in search for boat

A body has been found in the search for two missing fishermen in the Kawau Area, north of Auckland.

The men's families raised the alarm this morning after the pair left Martins Bay in a four-metre dinghy at about 5pm yesterday and did not return home.

Coastguard operations manager Ray Burge said the pair did not give a return time when they headed, but said they would not be long.

"We believe their intentions weren't to go too far. The conditions were reasonably good conditions last night and today is perfect search conditions," Mr Burge said.

Police said at this stage they cannot confirm the cause of death of the body found, or the man's identity.

Inspector Mark Fergus the body was recovered by a police launch just off Kawau Island.

Mr Fergus said the men's families had gathered at the beach earlier today.

Searchers had found some debris from the boat, which had helped to narrow down their search, he said.

Aircraft and rescue vessels had been searching in and around the Kawau Bay area.