Abstract
Through ethnographic study of human, water and fish, this research aims to understand local society in Seashore (靠海) Village, Yunlin, Taiwan. The story begins with a series of seawater intrusions in the 1970s and the state’s failed attempt to deal with water shortage. After these disasters, people in Seashore Village lost their farmland and were in heavy debt. Some gave up their land and left the village. Some remained.. Those who stayed dug their land and turned it into fisheries, using seawater to raise fish. By doing so, they overcame the difficulty and became aquaculture fishermen. Through examining how people faced ecological change and built a new economic life, this study presents local society in contemporary Taiwan as a dynamic existence resulting from the interaction between local actors, ecology, and the state.