ST. PETERSBURG, March 10 (RIA Novosti) -- Rescuers have saved all the 15 fishermen who went drifting on three ice floes toward the Gulf of Finland in northwestern Russia Saturday morning, a rescue official said.

Earlier reports put the number of fishermen at 23. The exact number could not be established because the ice floe, which carried the fishermen to the open sea, had broken into several pieces.

"The operation is over, 15 people have been rescued from the ice floes drifting in the Gulf of Finland," rescuers said, adding that the fishermen's health was out of danger.

The source said the fishermen had been rescued by a helicopter because motorboats were not very effective in the rough seas.

Despite warnings from rescue services, catching fish from ice-holes remains a favorite pastime for Russian fishermen in winter. The latest incident occurred on the Volga in mid-January when rescuers saved more than 60 fishermen stranded on drifting ice.