East Africa's oceans change, coastal women build new livelihoods

East Africa's oceans change, and coastal women build new livelihoods as climate pressures and declining marine health push fishing communities to diversify. In Malindi, Kenya, 54-year-old Nuru Mohammed prepares to open a beachside restaurant, aiming to supplement families’ incomes as overfishing and warmer oceans threaten catches. Across East Africa, fisherfolk are shifting toward tourism, ecosystem restoration, and other conservation-linked businesses. In Kenya, women use restored mangrove forests for beekeeping and ecotourism; in Zanzibar, communities protect coral reefs with locally managed closures; in Mozambique, sea-grass restoration supports jobs and habitat recovery. Mohammed, supported by ReSea activities, said she has lost boats to theft and struggles against industrial trawlers, including a Chinese-owned fish processing facility nearby. Another ReSea-supported group in Tanzania runs a mangrove nursery and restaurant, as fish supplies nearshore fall annually. The article frames these projects as resilience through restoration while communities lead conservation.