As East Africa’s oceans change, coastal women build new livelihoods

MALINDI, Kenya (AP) — The unfinished restaurant is still little more than concrete walls and wooden beams. As her daughter sweeps away the last piles of sand, 54-year-old Nuru Mohammed directs women hanging fishing nets to serve as décor. In a few days, the beachside restaurant on Kenya’s Indian Ocean coast will open, offering another way to earn a living.

“For us women, this is hope,” says Mohammed, who for most of her life was one of the few fisherwomen in Malindi, a town northeast of the port city of Mombasa. “It will help support many families that have depended on the ocean for decades.”

Across East Africa’s coast, fisherfolk are increasingly turning to tourism, ecosystem restoration and other conservation-based businesses, reinventing their relationship with the sea as climate change, overfishing and declining ocean health threaten their livelihoods.

In Kenya, women are turning restored mangrove forests into sources of income through beekeeping and ecotourism. In Tanzania’s Zanzibar archipelago, fishing communities are protecting coral reefs through locally managed closures. In Mozambique, sea grass restoration is creating jobs while reviving marine habitats. Together, these efforts are redefining resilience, not as leaving the ocean behind, but as restoring it while building enduring livelihoods.

“Communities that depend on the ocean are also its best stewards,” said Andreane Martel, project director for a conservation program dubbed ReSea. “When local people, especially women, lead conservation, they protect biodiversity while creating more resilient and inclusive livelihoods.”

Mohammed said she has lost boats to theft and now struggles to compete with industrial trawlers. A nearby Chinese-owned fish processing facility reflects the dramatic changes for the industry.

“I can’t compete with that kind of power or scale,” she says.

“It has been tough,” Mohammed says, looking toward the ocean. “I fought to remain a fisherwoman. But I think it’s a fight I can no longer win.”

Ten kilometers (six miles) away, where the Sabaki River meets the Indian Ocean, Beatrice Mwanyiro oversees a mangrove nursery and restaurant built by ReSea, a 30-member women’s self-help group supported by the Canadian government.

“We have to adapt to the changing times,” Mwanyiro says. “The number of fish coming into the shallow waters are falling every year. Without another source of income, we won’t be able to feed our families.”

Mangroves, coral reefs, sea grass meadows and nearshore fisheries provide food, protect coastlines from storms and store vast amounts of carbon. But those ecosystems are imperiled by warming oceans, pollution, habitat loss and overfishing.

Mohamed Somo, a leader of fishermen in Lamu, a UNESCO heritage site, says boats that used to come in with catches of up to 100 kilograms (220 pounds) of fish now often bring home less than 30 kilograms (66 pounds).

Kenyan law restricts trawlers to waters at least 5 nautical miles (9 kilometers) offshore, but fishers say some vessels routinely operate much closer. The challenge extends beyond Kenya. Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing costs the global economy an estimated $23 billion annually while threatening marine biodiversity and the food security of billions who depend on fish as a primary source of protein, according to the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization.

“The trawlers fish offshore during the day, but at night they move into the shallow waters where artisanal fishers work,” Somo says. “By morning, there’s very little left for us.”

The growing pressure on coastal communities has pushed ocean conservation higher on the political agenda as communities struggle for survival and try to protect their ocean economies.

“Coastal communities are on the frontlines of climate change and declining ocean health, but they are also among the strongest drivers of resilience,” said Jerry Mang’ena, co-founder and executive director of Action for Ocean, a Tanzania-based organization that restores mangroves along its coastline.

“Supporting sustainable livelihoods, from aquaculture and eco-tourism to ecosystem restoration, helps families adapt while reducing pressure on the ocean. If we’re serious about protecting our seas, we must invest in the people who have cared for them for generations.”

At the recent Our Ocean Conference in Mombasa, conservation groups urged African governments to ratify the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement, or “High Seas” treaty, a landmark U.N. pact establishing marine protected areas in international waters and fair sharing of marine resources. It entered into force in January, and as of April had been signed by 145 countries and ratified by 81.

The outcome of negotiations over additional ratifications of the treaty could have a profound impact on the lives of fisher people like Mohammed as they try to build futures that no longer depend entirely on increasingly uncertain catches.

“The BBNJ Agreement gives African governments a historic opportunity to protect the high seas and safeguard the future of our fisheries,” said Aliou Ba, oceans campaign lead at Greenpeace Africa.

“But protecting the ocean also means confronting illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing that is stripping African waters of marine life and robbing coastal communities of food and income," he said. "Governments cannot afford to delay.”

The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

The Samito Women Group's restaurant under construction is seen in Sabaki, Malindi, Kenya, on June 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Allan Olingo)

Beatrice Mwanyiro, chair of the Samito Women Group, is interviewed outside the group's unfinished restaurant and mangrove restoration center in Sabaki, Malindi, Kenya, on June 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Allan Olingo)

Nuru Mohammed, a fisherwoman speaks inside an unfinished restaurant being built by a women's group of fishmongers in Sabaki, Malindi, Kenya, on June 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Allan Olingo)

The Samito Women Group's restaurant under construction is seen in Sabaki, Malindi, Kenya, on June 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Allan Olingo)

An unfinished restaurant under construction by a women's group led by Nuru Mohammed is seen in Sabaki, Malindi, Kenya, on June 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Allan Olingo)

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — More rain and thunderstorms were possible Monday at the Grand Canyon following a major flash flood that left one person dead and about 15 others missing or unaccounted for, with scores of visitors evacuated and the only water pipeline for tourists and residents destroyed.

Emergency water restrictions that began Monday prevented tourists from staying overnight at lodges and hotels within the park. Year-round residents were asked to conserve water.

A flood watch was in effect. Visiting the Grand Canyon — a crown jewel of the national park system — can be particularly dangerous in the summer because of the risk of flash flooding that accompanies the monsoon, or rainy season. Clear days can give way quickly to thunderstorms and downpours.

“With deep monsoonal moisture in place and already saturated soils in some locations, an elevated risk of flash flooding will be in place through Monday,” the National Weather Service said early Monday.

The body of a 46-year-old man was recovered Sunday evening near Crystal Rapids along the Colorado River, the National Park Service said without providing additional details.

The flooding Saturday in Bright Angel Creek, which flows into the river, led to more than 60 people being airlifted from the depths of the canyon. The park service asked anyone with details about hikers or campers still unaccounted for to get in touch. The Arizona Department of Public Safety helped with additional evacuations Sunday.

“These measures are crucial for ensuring the safety and sustainability of water resources,” the park said in a statement.

Parth Desai was hiking through a narrow passage in Bright Angel Canyon with fellow physicians and a park ranger when heavy rain started falling Saturday.

“We saw the creek flood, waterfalls coming up out of nowhere, boulders, mud, landslides happening everywhere,” he said.

Later, as they made their way toward Phantom Ranch, a colleague shouted “Up, Up, Up, Up!” as a 4-foot (1-meter) debris wall headed toward them and they ran up into a patch of cacti, he said. They were rescued by helicopter late Saturday after making it to the Phantom Ranch area, he said.

Torrents of water wiped out footbridges over the creek and altered the landscape, widening the creek bed and extending an existing river rapid or creating a new one. The flood was a major blow to an enduring effort to modernize the pipeline that serves 6 million visitors a year and roughly 1,600 residents of Grand Canyon Village.

“Heaven help us if the whole thing down there at the bottom has to be reconstructed,” said Jack Schmidt, director of the Center for Colorado River Studies at Utah State University. “Where are they going to get the money?”

Halting overnight stays at the park because of a lack of water is rare, although the pipeline frequently has failed over the years. While the Grand Canyon has large storage tanks for potable water on the South Rim, they won’t be refilled while the pipeline is out of service.

A $208 million rehabilitation of the pipeline and upgrades to the associated water delivery system started in 2023, with the park service calling it a crucial investment to ensure the park can meet the needs of residents and visitors. The project was expected to be completed next year.

Stengle reported from Dallas. Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina, Holly Ramer in Concord, New Hampshire, and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles also contributed.

This photo shows Grand Canyon National Park in northern Arizona on Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026, after it was hit by heavy flooding a day earlier. (Craig Sanderson via AP)

This photo shows Grand Canyon National Park in northern Arizona on Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026, after it was hit by heavy flooding a day earlier. (Craig Sanderson via AP)

Bright Angel Creek near the Phantom Ranger Station in the Grand Canyon, Arizona, is seen after flash flooding from storms, Saturday, Aug. 29, 2026. (Parth Desai via AP)