A woman in her 60s has been killed by a shark near Tathra Wharf on the NSW south coast.

Emergency Services were called to an area between Tathra Wharf and Tathra Beach before 9am (AEDT) on Thursday after the woman was reported missing.

The local woman was swimming with friends, reportedly training for an annual ocean event, when she disappeared, police say.

Resident Molly Carroll described the scene in the fishing village, east of Bega, as “eerie”.

“It is a bit of a shock,” she told Bega District News.

“I was down at the beach about 8am. I saw the swimmers go in and then I was up at the house when the helicopter went over.

“It is a bit of an eerie feeling.”

Emergency service and surf lifesaving personnel are searching the area for remains, with a rescue helicopter flying above the area.

Poppy Benton, who was working at her sister’s cafe at the time of the incident, said the beach is popular and she had never heard of a shark attack in the area.

“I think this will be the first shark attack for the area. I haven’t heard of anything before.”

“There’s always swimmers every morning (at the beach).”

Bob Armstrong, who has spent 60 years in Tathra, has had a long association with the local surf lifesaving club.

He said the club patrolled around the cliffs in the 1950s and had seen sharks but this was the first attack in the area he had known.