The body of a missing Nova Scotia fishing boat captain has been recovered.
RCMP confirm that local fishermen located the body of Roger Stoddard, 64, around 8:30 a.m. Friday.
Stoddard was discovered on his boat, The Fisherman’s Provider II, off the coast of Canso, N.S.
READ: TSB deploy investigators as N.S. search-and-rescue operation continues
The vessel ran aground on Tuesday at around 8 p.m. in an area known as Frying Pan Shoal. There were four people on the vessel when it started taking on water, three of whom were rescued by another local fishing vessel.
According to officials, the captain chose to remain on board.
“It’s not uncommon for a captain to want to stay on board to attempt and save the vessel,” said Marc Ouellette, regional supervisor with the Canadian Coast Guard, on Thursday.
WATCH: The Canadian Armed Forces have provided these visuals of the Fisherman’s Provider II, after the fishing vessel ran aground off the coast of Canso, N.S.
The Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre announced late Thursday afternoon that they were scaling back the search for the captain after there were “no indications of life on the vessel.”
“When the file was turned back over to us, it was a recovery. We definitely have a better chance of success at doing a recovery during the daylight hours, and it’s difficult to justify risking human life and equipment to do a recovery operation overnight, so the plan was to start it this morning,” RCMP Cpl. Jennifer Clarke.
The case is now in the hands of the RCMP. In a statement, police said they would “like to acknowledge the support of the fishing community and the community of Canso” and said their thoughts are with the families of the captain and crew of the Fisherman’s Provider II.
The Transportation Safety Board is conducting an investigation into the incident. At this time, it’s unclear what caused the vessel to run aground.
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