Wally Stewart is a Yuin man living in Narooma, on the South Coast of NSW. He is also a strong advocate for Aboriginal cultural fishing. On the South Coast, home to a multi million dollar abalone industry, local Yuin mob are being given huge fines and even jail sentences simply for exercising the cultural rights of their ancestors. They are being locked up for practising culture, and this cycle is severely affecting the community.
In 2009, the NSW government legislated for Aboriginal cultural fishing, but six years on, it is still yet to be implemented. The Yuin mob are now looking into whether their claim for Native Title will safeguard their cultural rights to fishing, but there is also the problem of also using it for economic development, like previous generations have done.
If you would like to learn more, check out their Facebook page here.