Five crayfishers rescued after boat capsizes at Carpenter Rocks

Five crayfishers are lucky to be alive after their boat capsized off the coast of Carpenter Rocks in the state’s South East.

Two crayfishers who capsized off the coast of Carpenter Rocks retrieving a cray pot. Picture: Jessica Ball

Local fishermen have saved five lives after a crayfishing boat capsized at Carpenter Rocks, 35 km southwest of Mount Gambier this morning.

The 6m boat overturned while the crew was pulling up cray pots with the five men in the water for an hour before they managed to get the attention of another boat.

Debris from a capsized boat off the coast of Carpenter Rocks. Picture: Jessica Ball

An South Australia Police spokesperson said the 45-year-old Victorian skipper and his four crew members were rescued 1km from shore at around 8.15am.

“We were alerted as the fisherman was bringing them to shore so we weren't involved in the rescue and they didn’t require hospital treatment,” the spokesperson said.

A cray pot washed up after a boat capsized off the coast of Carpenter Rocks. Picture: Jessica Ball

Two of the men were picking up debris from the boat along the beach this afternoon but were not yet ready to talk about their ordeal saying they were still coming down to earth.

The rescues comes less than a week after Victorian man Duncan Craw was the victim of a shark attack, 30km down the coast at Port MacDonnell.