A SPEARFISHERMAN is fighting for his life after escaping a near drowning yesterday.

Emergency rescue services were called to the surf at the popular Vetch's Pier on Durban's beachfront, where they found Andrew Payne fighting for his life.

Payne's friend Rob Allen, owner of a popular Durban spearfishing company, Dive Factory, said they believed Payne's spear line had become entangled in a rock when the accident occurred.

"He was fishing in an area that was very calm and shallow, so he was not doing anything unsafe," Allen said.

"He must have shot the spear at something and it might then have been stuck on a rock.

"It was just one of those freak accidents that happen from time to time and it is the nature of the sport.

"It's only the second accident of this kind that I have heard of in 20 years. He has been sedated and we are just hoping for the best."

Payne was with two other spearfishermen who reeled him up on to the boat at the time of the accident and tried to resuscitate him.

"The boatman realised that something was wrong when Andrew was taking too long to come up from the water for air," Allen said.

"He was given CPR by a fellow spearfisherman and the paramedics arrived soon after that."

Netcare 911 spokesperson Jeff Wicks said paramedics arrived and found "the cold and sodden fisherman lying in shallow water".

"The man was incubated and placed on a manual ventilator before being rushed by ambulance to a medical team waiting at the hospital," Wicks said..