Search For Missing Townsville Fisherman Enters Fourth Day

On the fourth day of a search and rescue for a missing Queensland fisherman, police are planning to scale back their operations.

Police began looking for 41-year-old Colin Palmer on Saturday, after he fell off his boat into Townsville waters.

Palmer and his friend both were sent overboard by a wave in the early hours of the morning, attempted to swim back to shore amid dark, dangerous conditions.

The 45-year-old friend was rescued soon after, but there's been no sign of Palmer since.

Palmer's friend was discovered around 6:30am by a commercial fishing crew, and was taken to hospital in a stable condition.

Queensland police sent out air and sea rescue teams, however they have scaled back the lookout on Tuesday.

While authorities say they are still hanging onto hope of finding Palmer, there was confirmation the search operations was reduced.

"The search for missing fisherman Colin Palmer will continue tomorrow with a reduced number of resources," a police statement said. 

"A white Quintrex Coastrunner with registration RD806Q was not located during today's search and remains missing."

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