Police have called off the air and water search for a missing rock fisherman at Port Kembla on Monday.
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Bankstown's Van Hai Tran, who is 66 and of Vietnamese background, came down to Hill 60 to fish on Saturday and has not been seen or heard from since.
Mr Tran's family members came looking for him on Monday and located his silver Toyota Kluger in the car park at Hill 60.
Lake Illawarra police were then notified about 12pm and launched a search with a police helicopter and the Marine Area Command searching the waters.
Mr Tran's brother-in-law Bang Tran said the family were "worried and scared" and were visibly upset at the scene.
He said they checked car parks nearby before finding Mr Tran's car located at the bottom of the hill near the rock platform.
Mr Tran said his brother-in-law was not a regular fisherman and usually only went fishing for one day at a time but would sometimes go for longer.
Lake Illawarra District Command's Inspector James Dark said PolAir and marine rescue boats had travelled as far as Shellharbour in rough and choppy seas.
Insp Dark said police had not located Mr Tran or any fishing equipment in his car, on the rock platform or in the water.
"At this stage we fear he has gone off the rocks when fishing," he said.
"With the couple of days that have passed, we have checked the tides and they are heading towards Shellharbour which is why PolAir has assisted in going down there.
"The choppy seas and winds are making it a difficult search.
"We are not sure whether he was wearing a life jacket or what sort of safety equipment he had.
"With the seas, it is very treacherous."
Insp Dark said there was nothing else PolAir could do on Monday afternoon.
He said police would assess the situation and check resources before resuming any search.
Insp Dark urged any witnesses to come forward who may have seen Mr Tran fishing on Saturday.
Police are not ruling out that Mr Tran could be somewhere else.
Insp Dark reminded people who went fishing to always tell someone where they were going and for how long as well as to always take safety equipment.
The Bureau of Meteorology issued a hazard surf warning for rock fishing, boating, and swimming along the Illawarra coast on Friday but a large and powerful southerly swell was expected to pass over the Illawarra coast by Saturday morning.
Insp Dark said he was unsure of the surf and swell conditions on Saturday.
