Nigeria, Aug. 9 -- Clouds hung heavily over the Atlantic coastline, a familiar sight at the peak of the rainy season in Nigeria's Niger Delta. On this day in June, rain had been falling since morning, leaving the sandy pathways of Ikot Inua Eyet, a fishing community in Ibeno Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, slick with mud.

At their home, 52-year-old fisherman, Christian Inyang, helped his wife attend to customers at her small roadside food stall.

Moments later, as the drizzle became heavier, Mr Inyang looked toward the river that had sustained his family for decades.

He should have been on the water. Instead, like some fishermen across Nigeria's southern coastline, he was stranded on land.

"There is a lot that has changed," h...