MALINDI, Kenya - The half-built eatery remains mostly concrete walls and timber frames. While her daughter clears away remaining sand, 54-year-old Nuru Mohammed guides women as they position fishing nets for decoration. Within days the seaside spot along Kenya's Indian Ocean shore will welcome customers, providing a fresh means of income.

"For women here this represents opportunity," Mohammed notes. She spent much of her life as one of the rare female fishers in Malindi, located northeast of Mombasa. "It will sustain numerous households that have relied on marine resources for generations."

Along East Africa's shoreline, fishing families increasingly shift toward visitor services, habitat rehabilitation and other nature-focused enterprises. They reshape their connection to the sea as rising temperatures, excessive harvests and poorer marine conditions endanger their way of life.

Kenyan women convert revived mangrove areas into revenue streams via honey production and nature tours. In Tanzania's Zanzibar islands, fishing groups safeguard coral formations through community-led seasonal restrictions. Mozambique sees sea grass recovery efforts generate employment while renewing underwater environments. These initiatives together reshape adaptation by restoring marine systems and securing lasting income sources.

"Ocean-dependent groups also serve as its finest guardians," said Andreane Martel, project lead for the ReSea conservation effort. "When residents, particularly women, guide protection work they preserve species diversity and foster stronger, fairer economic options."

Mohammed described losing vessels to theft and facing stiff rivalry from industrial fleets. A nearby Chinese-operated fish plant highlights major industry shifts.

"I cannot match that level of capacity or reach," she observes.

"Conditions have grown difficult," Mohammed adds while gazing at the water. "I worked hard to stay in fishing. Yet this is a battle I can no longer sustain."

Six miles distant, where the Sabaki River joins the Indian Ocean, Beatrice Mwanyiro manages a mangrove seedling site and dining venue created by ReSea. The 30-member women's collective receives backing from Canadian authorities.

"We must adjust to evolving circumstances," Mwanyiro explains. "Fish arrivals in shallow zones decline yearly. Absent alternative earnings we cannot provide for our households."

Mangroves, coral structures, sea grass beds and inshore fisheries supply nutrition, shield shores from storms and hold large carbon reserves. Yet these systems face threats from warmer seas, contaminants, habitat damage and overharvesting.

Mohamed Somo, a fishing leader in Lamu, a UNESCO site, reports that vessels once landing up to 220 pounds of fish now frequently return with under 66 pounds.

Kenyan rules limit trawlers to at least nine kilometers offshore, yet fishers report some boats regularly work nearer. The issue spans the region. Unlawful and unreported catches drain the world economy roughly 23 billion dollars each year and endanger marine life plus food supplies for billions who rely on fish as key protein, per U.N. data.

"Trawlers operate farther out by day but enter shallow zones at night where small-scale fishers work," Somo says. "By dawn little remains for local crews."

Intensified strain on shoreline populations has elevated marine protection in policy discussions as groups seek survival and defend their coastal economies.

"Shoreline residents stand at the edge of climate effects and ocean decline, yet they rank among the firmest forces for recovery," said Jerry Mang'ena, co-founder of Action for Ocean, a Tanzania group restoring mangroves.

"Backing viable income options from fish farming and visitor experiences to habitat work lets families adjust while easing demands on the sea. Serious ocean protection requires investment in those who have stewarded these waters across generations."

At the recent Our Ocean gathering in Mombasa, groups called on African states to endorse the BBNJ pact, a U.N. accord creating protected zones in international waters and ensuring equitable marine resource distribution. The treaty took effect in January and by April counted 145 signatories with 81 ratifications.

Further treaty ratifications could greatly shape futures for fishers like Mohammed as they develop paths less tied to unpredictable harvests.

"The BBNJ pact offers African leaders a key chance to shield open seas and secure our fisheries," said Aliou Ba of Greenpeace Africa. "Yet ocean protection also demands tackling illegal catches that strip African waters of life and deprive coastal groups of food and earnings. Leaders must act without delay."