in the fishing villages of navagaon in maharashtra in india for instance all fish processing activities take place on community land whose unofficial ownership and management lies with the traditional villagelevel governance body or panchayat this land is divided among fishing families and passed down to the daughtersinlaw of the house these drying areas may be rented out to others for drying fish but they cannot be sold as the community owns the land women invest in the maintenance of these fishing grounds and contribute their own labour customary rights over this land are fiercely maintained by the fishing community peke a thus customary practices help to retain control over assets necessary for fish processing and prevent them from being diverted to other purposes