Aboriginal people are fined, prosecuted and jailed in highly disproportionate numbers, an inquiry by New South Wales parliament into fishing laws has found

The NSW Legislative Council committee report on the commencement of the Fisheries Management Amendment Act 2009 found enforcement actions had been "unacceptable and creating perverse outcomes inconsistent with the NSW Government's commitments to the Closing the Gap Agreement".

The New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council welcomed the report released on Monday.

Controversy has surrounded the handling of cultural fishing rights by New South Wales authorities.

In 2018, a NSW Fisheries officers chased Yuin Elder Kevin Mason into the sea at Narooma because of a small bag of abalone which was for his family, not for commercial purposes. Ultimately charges were dropped in September this year.

Last week the NSW Aboriginal Land Council condemned the Fisheries Management Amendment (Enforcement Powers) Bill 2022, which seeks to expand search powers and the definition of a premise, as "draconian", criminalising Aboriginal people's cultural rights to fish, and "a clear example of over-reach of powers already being abused".

On Tuesday NSWALC chairperson Danny Chapman said the NSW Government must immediately end the prosecutions of Aboriginal people exercising their cultural fishing rights.

"And it must commence Section 21AA of the Fisheries Management Act 1994, which the NSW Parliament passed 13 years ago, but we are still waiting for action," he said.

Mr Chapman, who appeared at two public hearings on the Fisheries Management Amendment Act 2009 at Narooma and also at Parliament House, said the Land Council was pleased their voices had been heard and reflected in the report.

The NSW Aboriginal Land Council also made a written submission to the inquiry.

NSWALC backed recommendations for fisheries officers to cease surveillance and prosecution against Aboriginal cultural fishers and to withdraw penalties issued to Aboriginal individuals on the South Coast who were practising cultural fishing.

"Aboriginal peoples are holders of specific Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Traditional Fishing Knowledge accumulated over millennia," Mr Chapman said.

"We are supportive of the sustainable management of fish stocks - this is Caring for Country, and self-regulation, which has been occurring for thousands of years. We need to be able to exercise these practices without fear of being targeted and harassed."

Oxfam Australia also welcomed the report which, it said acknowledged enforcement against Aboriginal fishers was harmful and biased..

The community-based aid and development organisation said the report showed Aboriginal

Oxfam First People's Program policy and advocacy lead Paul Cleary said the report set out an agenda for the NSW Government to engage with Aboriginal people.

"But we question the need to make the amendment subject to further regulation, as recommended in the report, when industry is still being allocated massive quotas for the harvesting of seafood that is fundamental to the wellbeing of First Peoples in New South Wales," he said.

While the report calls on the government to invest in Aboriginal communities that also want to pursue commercial opportunities, Mr Cleary said there was potential to go much further by looking at the co-management model in the Torres Strait.

NSW Agriculture Minister Dugald Saunders said the government would review the report.

"We recognise the innate connection between waterways and the cultural identity and wellbeing of Aboriginal people, including the importance of cultural fishing practices to Aboriginal communities," he said.

"We will review the report findings and provide a response in due course."

Mr Saunders did not answer whether recommendations would be adopted in full.