N.B. community mourns lobster fishermen's deaths

The death of three New Brunswick fishermen has cast a pall over the communities where they lived and worked.

Many people in the small village of Tabusintac held a vigil at the local wharf for almost two days as search crews — including the army, the coast guard, the RCMP, and volunteer teams —combed the coastline and panned the waters looking for the men.

By Sunday afternoon the wait was over. Two bodies were found around 4 p.m. AT. The third was recovered Saturday hours after their boat issued a distress call.

All three died when their lobster boat hit a sandbar in rough weather and capsized.

• Bodies of two missing fishermen found

Jean Guy Robichaud fished for 36 years and said he knew the three men.

"The community is all together when it comes to tragedy like that. Everybody's got a feeling, everybody's sad, everybody is wondering why, you know, what can we do?"

'This last tragedy has just left people with an awful lot of sad hearts.' —Olive Archibald

A United Church minister in Tabusintac said the people in the tight-knit village are in shock. Olive Ann Archibald says she`s offering counselling.

"The community is very injured right now, because of the fact that they lost five boats two weeks ago and this last tragedy has just left people with an awful lot of sad hearts," she said.

One of the victims was from Archibald's village, the others came from the communities of Brantville and Tracadie-Sheila.

The victims were aged 23, 32 and 35.

Police say the search is over. The crews are gone and all that remains is the boat, submerged not far off shore.

The Canadian Transportation Safety Board is investigating the deaths.