A search team scoured the Mira River in Cape Breton on Tuesday for a missing boater who reportedly fell overboard a day earlier.
Water rescue units from local fire departments, ground search and rescue, and police dive teams located an empty fishing boat but no trace of a missing person.
Police said the boater is a man in his 50s from the Mira area, between Sydney and Louisbourg in southeastern Cape Breton, who was out fishing at the time of the incident.
Staff Sgt. Phillip Ross with Cape Breton Regional Police said a witness saw the mishap and contacted police at about 7 p.m. Monday.
"We received a report from a witness who actually saw the gentleman...the mishap," he said. "He was out recreational fishing."
Police had boats and dive teams on site Tuesday, along with boats from the Albert Bridge, Glace Bay and New Waterford fire departments. Cape Breton Search and Rescue was also doing a shoreline search.
Ross said there are conditions hampering search efforts.
"It is a big section of the river and it has quite a tide that comes in and out," he said. "We have a tidal flow at the high and low tide, which is obviously making an impact on our search."
The Mira River feeds into the Atlantic at the Mira Bay.
The fishing season opened on April 15, but Ross said water temperatures are still frigid this time of year. Air temperatures dropped to three degrees overnight Monday, he said.
Ross said the search was expected to continue Tuesday until dusk.
"At the end of the day we'll re-evaluate the situation," he said. "As time passes by obviously it's not getting any better."
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