Missing are Kenneth Rose Sr., 75; Kenneth Rose Jr., 49; and Larry Forrest, 55, the Coast Guard said this morning.
Coast Guard records indicate the missing vessel, the Seatractor, is registered to the elder Rose and based in Newport, N.C.
The vessel operated out of Cape May when working the waters off New Jersey, John Cole, general manager of a fishermen's cooperative in Point Pleasant Beach, told the Associated Press.
Petty Officer Crystal Kneen, a Coast Guard spokeswoman, said two Coast Guard helicopters from Atlantic City and two cutters were out all night looking for the crew of the Seatractor.
The 44-foot vessel was 20 miles east of Cape May when it sent out an automatic distress signal at 7:35 p.m. as seas surged from a nor'easter.
This morning, a C-130 plane from the Coast Guard station in Elizabeth City, N.C., took over the search, she said.
A Coast Guard helicopter rushed to the area of the boat's last known location, where the crew found only an empty life raft.
Another fishing vessel, the Captain Jeff, which was voluntarily assisting the search, found a debris field that included the Seatractor's electronic position-indicating radio beacon and a cooler.
This morning, swells were up to 25 feet high and winds were up to 60 knots in the search area, Kneen said.
In March, six members of the crew of the Lady Mary died when the scallop boat sank about 60 miles off Cape May. The Coast Guard rescued a seventh crewman.
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