Sergeant Martin Flannery said the boat was towed back into Portland by a passing vessel.

"About 1pm he ran out of fuel one kilometre from Portland, he was just outside breakwater and had to be towed back in," he said.

"It seems the fisherman was also experiencing problems with his radio. With the tuna season now getting into full swing, it's timely to remind all fishermen to check their gear, do their maintenance and carefully calculate their fuel usage."

Sergeant Flannery said the Portland Coastguard was often called out to preventable ocean rescues during the tuna season due to fishermen not properly maintaining their boats or calculating their fuel usage.

"The ocean is a dangerous place to get stuck," he said.

"Everyone who goes out there at the very least needs to be able to call for assistance. The tuna season is really starting to get going, there were about 100 boat putting in an the weekend and with Easter fast approaching we can expect a lot more boats in the near future," he said.

The tuna season generally runs from the end of March/Easter through until June or July.