TV fisherman, Gus Sanfilippo, made a concerning phone call to his friend just hours before his boat capsized off the coast of Gloucester, Massachusetts.

Mr Sanfilippo, who was the skipper of the Lily Jean, and his six crew are presumed dead after their 22m fishing vessel sank on Friday morning.

The US Coast Guard launched a search-and-rescue mission shortly after receiving an alert from the Lily Jean nearly 40km off Cape Ann.

Rescue crews found debris, an unoccupied life raft, and an unresponsive body, however the identity of the body has not yet been confirmed.

Search crews covered a 2600 square km area with multiple aircraft, patrol boats, and small vessels over a 24 hour period, however, on Saturday the coast guard announced they were suspending the search.

“After consultation between search and rescue mission coordinators and on-scene commanders, the Coast Guard determined that all reasonable search efforts for the missing crewmembers had been exhausted,” the statement read.

A close friend of Mr Sanfilippo, Captain Sebastian Noto, spoke to him on the phone just hours before the tragedy struck, according to NBC10 Boston.

“I was about 30 miles east of him. We usually work together all the time. We are like glue man. We give a lot of information back-and-forth,” said Mr Noto, who made a safe return back to Gloucester after five days on his fishing vessel, the Sea Farmer II.

According to Mr Noto, at around 3am on Friday Mr Sanfilippo said: “I quit. It’s too cold.”

He noted that Mr Sanfilippo was calm, but “He just couldn’t do the cold because the air holes was freezing.”

Mr Noto quickly realised it was a “serious situation” when several hours had passed and there was no sign of his friend.

He suspects the tragedy may have been caused by a malfunction in the bilge pump.

“Just a guess, I could be wrong you know because even if the bilge is taking water, you got plenty of time to call Mayday,” he said.

“You got plenty of time to get into the survival suit, life raft. The boat takes time to sink.”

Captain Jamie Frederick, commander of Coast Guard Sector Boston, said: “The decision to suspend the search was incredibly difficult.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with all the family members and friends of the lost crew of the Lilly Jean, and with the entire Gloucester community during this heartbreaking time.”

The Coast Guard Northeast District is investigating the incident.