KEY POINTS:
A double drowning at an isolated west Auckland beach on Saturday has spurred on public agencies' efforts to teach rock-fishing enthusiasts to think of their safety and wear lifejackets.
Surf lifeguards tried to save two men who were swept off rocks at Erangi Pt, between Bethells Beach and O'Neils Beach, at 10.55am.
The two lifeguards took five minutes to reach the isolated cliffs by boat and recovered one of the men, Faleauto Talona Fotu-Taua,
who was in difficulty in a 2m-high swell. They performed CPR but he did not survive. The other man, who has not been named, has not been found despite sea and air searches.
The men, in a group of five fishing the king tide, were not wearing lifejackets, said Northern region life-saving manager Dean Storey. If they had been their chances of rescue would have been greatly increased.
WaterSafe Auckland chairman Dr Kevin Moran said 22 anglers had been lost in a decade on Auckland's rugged west coast.
"The risk is well known - but the fishers are so staunch.
It's mission impossible but we just have to persist with trying to give them the message to wear inflatable lifejackets."
Dr Moran estimated about 20 per cent of rock fishers now wore lifejackets instead of 4 per cent before a three-year trial education campaign.
WaterSafe Auckland, Auckland Regional Council and Surf Life Saving Northern Region will continue the campaign this summer.
WaterSafe's Teresa Stanley said a brochure on safe rock fishing was coming out this week.
