Police have taken the "extremely difficult decision" to end the search for missing 43-year-old Darren Rees.
Mr Rees was last seen on Tuesday, November 3, before it got dark picking cockles during low tide around the Machynys area of Llanelli.
He was reported missing at around 6.30pm and a full sea, land, and air search including the HM Coastguard, fire department, RNLI, and police officers has been ongoing over the past three days.
The experienced cockle picker who "loved his job" was last seen wearing green waders and a blue jumper.
At 2pm on Friday a joint decision was made to conclude the search and only continue with "periodic patrols of the estuary by HM Coastguard," a Dyfed-Powys Police spokesman said.
The spokesman said officers were satisfied they had done "absolutely everything" possible to try and locate Mr Rees and that his family had been informed of the decision.
In a statement chief inspector Chris Neve said: "After careful consideration of all the information and expert advice that has been made available to us, a joint decision has been made by all agencies involved that the search for Mr Rees will now conclude and will consist of periodic patrols of the estuary by HM Coastguard moving forward. We will also continue with other intelligence-led inquiries in the coming days."
An HM Coastguard spokesman said "an extensive, large-scale multi-agency search" had been carried out while volunteers from the local community had also stepped in to help. “Unfortunately the man has not yet been located and the decision has been made to scale the search effort down pending further information," they added.
In an earlier statement Mr Rees' family said they had been overwhelmed by the kindness of strangers and thanked the community for their help and support.
