Skipper hailed great entrepreneur

John Bowman has been missing since Wednesday

Friends and family have been paying tribute to a Fife fishermen lost off the Dorset coast.

John Bowman's family said they were "devastated" by the news and colleagues praised him as a "great entrepreneur".

Mr Bowman lives in Anstruther with his mother and father but originally comes from a Pittenweem fishing family.

The 45-year-old, who normally trawls for Norway lobster within a 30-mile radius of Fife, had travelled to English waters to catch cuttlefish.

The incident is the second to affect the East Neuk of Fife in recent months.

An underwater search has been launched for a fishing boat which went missing in the North Sea with four crew on board in October.

The body of Edward Gardner, 50, was recovered, but three others - skipper Martin Gardner, 49, Ian Donald, 55, both from Anstruther, and Sidney Low, 52, from Aberdeen, were never found.

Billy Hughes, manager of The Fishermen's Mutual Association (Pittenweem), said: "I am very sad to hear John Bowman, who is one of our members, has been lost at sea. I have spent my whole life working with fishermen and its a serious tragedy if any fishermen goes missing, I just hope he can be found.

'Special equipment'

"The whole community feels for his mother and father as we still all do for the families of the three missing fishermen from Anstruther from another recent accident.

"John is a great entrepreneur and is always trying to find viable new fisheries. On this occasion he had travelled further a field to fish for cuttlefish because there are no cuttlefish fisheries here and you need special equipment."

He added that fishing is Mr Bowman's life and that he does not have a wife or children.

Mr Bowman had downsized from his Sunbeam KY379 to the smaller Unity about eight years ago.

His father, also called John, said in a statement issued by police: "The family are devastated. We are just thankful that the crew were found safe and well."