A man in his 50s has died after he went missing during a fishing trip off the west Cork coast.

The body of the fisherman was recovered on Tuesday morning in the Blackball Head area.

The man, who is understood to be from Castletownbere, went fishing at around 6pm on Monday evening via a small boat.

An alarm was raised when debris thought to be that of the boat was spotted off Blackball Head.

Rescue 115 confirmed they had been called to the scene, however the remains of the man were recovered before their arrival.

The Irish Independent reports that local fishing vessels aided Castletownbere RNLI in searching for the missing man.

The operation commenced at 7am on Tuesday morning, and was led by the Coast Guard centre in Valentia.

The remains of the man have since been transferred to Cork University Hospital. The Office of the State Pathologist has been alerted.

Extra.ie have reached out to An Garda Síochána for a statement.

It is believed the man was an experienced fisherman who had been fishing for pollock when tragedy struck.