“Shi Hai” and fishery transformation in a coastal rural community

China is rich in water resources, including marine and inland rivers, lakes and seas. Therefore, residents who depend on water and draft will have relevant livelihood strategies. At the same time, due to the change of state-led policies on the use of water resources, the residents who live near the water (fishermen at the sea or riverside) face the situation of "Shi Hai" (deprived of the ocean). The endogenous mechanism of "Shi Hai" is the structural upgrading of the fishery industry, which is harmful and challenging to the traditional livelihood strategy of small-scale fishermen. Through the investigation of fishermen along the coastal region in China, it is found that fishermen in the Yangtze River Basin, the Zhu Jiang River Basin and Hainan Island have been seriously impacted by "Shi Hai". However, the fishermen in Fengcheng Town, the fishing community I investigated, are not in trouble or poverty or on the verge of bankruptcy. Therefore, I explored the sustainable livelihood strategies of fishermen in Fengcheng town in the face of the "Shi Hai" situation. I then understood the possibility of fishermen's multiple livelihood options and the reasons for their resilience in the case of fishery industry upgrading. The main argument is to demonstrate the reasons why Fengcheng town did not encounter serious "Shi Hai" and realized a smooth transition under the influence of large-scale marine fishery industry upgrading and try to provide some suggestions for the livelihood strategies of other small-scale fishermen, the industrial reform policies, and social security policies of the local government.