India’s coastal interfaces are fraught with competition between various sectors that include government authorities, industrial powers and local fishing communities. This essay outlineskey aspects of this conflict in terms of space and citizenship. The first is the centrality of coastal commons to the life and livelihoods of fisherfolk and how nature functions as their main infrastructure. The second is how development alters and impacts their environment and how weaknesses in the current regulatory frameworkseffects the protection of their rights. Finally the writer discusses the new ways in which awareness is being generated among fisherfolk through the use of modern tools such as maps, GIS and GPS. This training in geospatial literacy has enabled them to assert control and resist unjust encroachments and transformations. This points to larger possibilities available in the field of digital stewardship.