U.S. Coast Guard Calls Off Search for 7 Missing American Fishermen

July 6: Fisherman Jesus Rodrigo Fernandez, center, a member of the crew of the fishing boat that capsized, helps Navy personnel in the search and rescue efforts in Punta Bufeo. (AP)

July 6: Matthew Tsujiuchi, 11, holds a sign for his friend and missing fisherman Donald Lee, as Victor Lee, brother of Donald Lee, speaks during a news conference in San Francisco. (AP)

The U.S. Coast Guard is ending aerial searches for seven Americans still missing after a charter fishing boat sank off Mexico.

The Coast Guard says its search on Tuesday of a 803 square-mile (2,080 square-kilometer) area of the Sea of Cortez by a C-130 Hercules aircrew would be its last.

Rear Admiral Joseph Castillo said the 11th division's "deepest sympathies go out to the friends and families of the missing men."

Baja California state Civil Protection Director Alfredo Escobedo Ortiz said small Mexican naval craft and other fishermen would continue searching for bodies or survivors.

The boat went down on July 3. Nineteen U.S. tourists and 16 Mexican crew members made it to land. One was found drowned on a remote island beach. The others remain missing.