Abstract: This paper examines the surveillance of fishing vessels in the Qing Dynasty by focusing on the coastal
region of South China， and discusses the concept of maritime administration． After the “Coastal
Clearance”policy was ended in 1684，fishermen were viewed as the main potential menace to the coastal
public security． In order to control fishermen，a highly mobile group，the Qing officials took advantage of
the vital role that fishing vessels played in fishermen's livelihood to develop an administrative regime． The
officials tried to register and check the vessels by organizing them into administration units in the places
where they were built，repaired，berthed and supplied instead of trying to control the people who lived on
the vessel who were difficult to track． There were two main categories of such administrative units． One
was Aojia，which aimed at registering households by inlet; and another one was Chuanjia，which aimed
at registering vessel in teams． Consequently，the government could restrict the scope of fishermen's
activities at sea on the basis of administration at land． This regulatory regime formed in the Kangxi reign
and Yongzheng reign and was based on the experience in Fujian Province． The practice spread until it
became a well-established policy resource which was constantly cited by officials in the later ages．