By Josh Arslan and Thomas Peter

PINGTAN, China, April 9 (Reuters) - As China sends warships and fighter jets to the Taiwan Strait after a U.S. visit by Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, deemed a separatist by Beijing, fishing crews plying the narrow waterway say they fret more about their livelihood than politics.

For years, Chinese fishermen trawling for fish, shrimp and crab have played cat and mouse with Taiwanese authorities as they closely track boats that near the median line of the Taiwan Strait.

Villagers on Pingtan island in China's southeastern Fujian province, just across from Taiwan, say fishing is their livelihood - and trips to sea are more fraught as China stages new military drills in the strait, just 160km (100 miles) at its narrowest.

"If no fish come to my net, my family will probably starve to death," said Wang, a fisherman in his 40s in Pingtan's Dafu village, where his ancestors have fished for generations. Like the other fishermen interviewed for this article, he gave only his family name because of the sensitivity of the situation.

When Wang's boat sailed on Friday morning to an area half an hour from Pingtan, his crew brought back about 7,000 yuan ($1,000) worth of mainly red shrimp and pomfret. About 20 people worked on that boat.

Each fisherman earns about 200 to 300 yuan for a day's work, far less than needed to raise a family, Wang said.

"Diesel is getting more and more expensive, and our living costs have risen significantly, with the meagre government subsidies just a drop in the bucket," he said.

China launched exercises around the main Taiwan island on Saturday as part of drills that will last until Monday. The Fujian Maritime Bureau also announced live firing drills off the coast of the Fujian capital, Fuzhou, as well as Pingtan.

Those activities won't stop fishermen from heading to sea, but the increased tensions will make them more wary about getting close to the median line.

"We used to travel to the open waters, but now we only fish near the shore, since we are not allowed to cross the red line. There's no point in risking heavy fines," said another fisherman, Yan, who has been working in the strait for a decade.

Wang said he was more concerned about the end of the fishing season on May 1. Islanders, including him, are scrambling to seize every sailing opportunity as they brace for three months of zero income.

"We have been fishing since we were very young, and will do so until we are old enough to die - we have no time to think about issues other than our personal struggles," Wang said with a small smile.