Indigenous elders on the Mid North Coast are sharing their knowledge about environmental sustainability with Indonesian marine and fisheries leaders.

The group, from the Indonesian provinces of Maluku and North Maluku, are on a four-week tour of Australia's eastern seaboard, through Southern Cross University (SCU).

Indigenous land manager Chels Marshall said there were similarities between the cultures, particularly in kinship, family structures and responsibilities.

"Indigenous people can manage country, landscape, species and marine space," Ms Marshall said.

"It's been managed for thousands of years and it's only with the incursion of western concepts that a lot of this country has been mismanaged."

Around 30 per cent of Indonesia's fish is sourced from Maluku, making the eastern provinces integral to the country's economy.

But according to customary law, non-custodians are not allowed to fish in traditional waters.

Visiting expert Eugenius Renjaan from Tual Polytechnic said the emergence of industrial fisheries was threatening Indigenous rights and could impact the livelihoods of local communities.

He called for stronger government regulation to protect those rights.

"The way that the Australian Government respects traditional rights, we hope we can talk to our government to make the same things happen," he said.



Indonesian traditional fishers are feeling threatened by industrial fisheries. ( ABC News: Samantha Hawley )

Gumma Reserve on display

The tour included the Gumma Reserve, an Indigenous protected area, solely owned and managed by Aboriginal people.

Traditional owners work with Nambucca Land Council and engage with federal ministers to preserve the land as a cultural area rather than an economic development.

Chels Marshall saw similarities between Indonesian and Aboriginal cultures, and her advice for the visitors was to lobby the government for policy reform.

"In my experience, the change comes from grassroots," she said.

"There needs to be a whole paradigm shift in different ways of knowing and thinking around the management of these natural spaces."

The National Marine Science Centre is capitalising on the similarities.

Professor Stephen Smith said there could be a way to help traditional owners return to subsistence fishing.

"In Eastern Indonesia there's a customary ownership of resources and increasingly that's being put under threat by big fisheries," he said.

"[The traditional owners] are trying to find a way back."

A smoking ceremony on the Gumma traditional site, attended by Indigenous and Indonesian leaders. ( Supplied: Stephen Smith )

Part of a larger cross-cultural effort

Professor Smith hoped SCU's research program could lead to a network of experts across both countries who could identify problems, determine the scale of impact and gradually implement programs to mitigate the impact on marine environments through engagement with local and national government.

"I think in Australia we've made some significant advances in recognising Indigenous management and ownership of land and resources and I think those are certainly transferable," he said.

Professor Smith said representatives from Australia would visit Indonesia to address specific questions the visitors had over the four weeks.

"I'm hoping we can take some of our Indigenous elders from this area over to Maluku to share that knowledge," he said.