Diving for abalone and shellfish has been a part of Yuin man Kevin Mason's life for as long as he can remember, but he's now too afraid to return to the water.
For decades, the 75-year-old has been pursued by Fisheries compliance officers, charged, fined and even jailed for practising his traditional culture.
The prosecution has not only taken a financial toll but a physical and emotional one too.
"My culture and my seafood are the only [things] that enhance me and keep me going," Mr Mason said.
"I'm losing weight and I'm falling away to nothing."
Four years ago he had an altercation with a NSW Fisheries compliance officer and a police officer while diving for abalone near Narooma on the NSW South Coast.
Two years later, he was charged with resisting arrest and swearing at the officer and a police officer.
Just days before the matter was due back before the court, the NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) withdrew all charges against him and dropped the case.
On September 23, Magistrate Doug Dick ordered the DPI to pay $20,000 in legal costs to Kevin Mason's lawyer, Kathryn Ridge.
Documents obtained by the ABC show that the DPI has been ordered to pay more than $500,000 in legal fees in cases against Indigenous fishers that have been dismissed or withdrawn in the past six months.
"Magistrates can only award costs in the event that there's some improper or unreasonable or exceptional circumstances in either the investigation or the prosecution," Ms Ridge said.
"For magistrates to award costs three times now is truly exceptional."
A 'waste' of taxpayer money
Walbunja man and chair of the New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council Danny Chapman has campaigned for cultural fishing rights for more than 20 years.
He said the prosecution of Indigenous fishers was a waste of public resources.
"It cost the New South Wales taxpayers a whole heap of money to try and prosecute us for something that we own," he said.
The Department of Primary Industries did not respond to questions by the ABC about the costs it has been ordered to pay.
The South Coast people lodged a native title claim in August 2017, unopposed by the state of NSW, which included the right to take fish for any purpose.
But Kathryn Ridge points to data from the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research that shows the state government has ramped up its prosecutions of Indigenous fishers on the NSW South Coast since the claim was successfully registered.
"I think there's a real risk that the conduct taken as a whole is oppressive, and it's unjust," Ms Ridge said.
"And it's operating in an extremely prejudicial way against individual native title holders."
Minister for Agriculture Dugald Saunders declined an interview but in a statement to the ABC confirmed that 13 matters against Indigenous fishers had been withdrawn or dismissed in the past year.
"The prosecutor has reviewed all existing Fisheries prosecutions involving Indigenous fishers to ensure only serious offences are pursued," he said.
Danny Chapman said the withdrawal of cases didn't compensate for the amount of time and money that went into preparing to defend them.
"[Kevin] had been tried to be prosecuted for the same thing three times before and each of those times they took us right up to the precipice, and then they withdrew the charges," he said.
"The reason why we think that they dropped these charges is because they are absolutely terrified that an Aboriginal person here on the South Coast will get a native title right to fish."
The NSW government passed its own legislation in 2009 to protect and decriminalise Indigenous cultural fishing, but the law is yet to commence.
The issue is being examined in a NSW Upper House inquiry, which is due to hand down its final report in November.
The hidden cost
Kevin Mason's son, Martin Mason, was taught to dive when he was a child, holding onto his father's shoulders in the water. And he was only little when his father was sent to prison for abalone possession.
"For those few months that he was away in jail, we had no food on our table. So, we were sort of struggling," he said.
"Ever since then, we've always looked over our shoulder, dodging the Fisheries, just to get a feed for the community."
He believes that the ongoing prosecution of Indigenous people has discouraged the younger generation from continuing the cultural practice.
"It's pretty hard because a lot of the kids don't want to learn because they see the harassment that we have been put through," he said.
"It's another part of our culture lost if we can't teach our kids in the next generation."
Ms Ridge said the treatment of Indigenous fishers in NSW should be of concern to all Australians.
"Aboriginal people have a right, as an Australian citizen, to have their rights recognised and upheld just like all of us do," she said.
"If the legal system does not operate the same way for them, ansd their rights, as it does for other people's rights ... it's a serious concern."
