De Hoop Marine Protected Area
marine conservation area on the south coast of the Western Cape of South Africa
The De Hoop Marine Protected Area lies between Arniston and the mouth of the Breede River on the south coast of South Africa adjacent to the De Hoop Nature Reserve. The MPA is 51 kilometres long, and extends 5 nautical miles to sea. The whole MPA is a restricted area (No Take zone) and is part of the migratory route and calving area for Southern right whales. The area protects habitats for several economically important inshore reef fish species, and ensures the retention of marine biomass in this part of the coast. The limestone coastline is includes archaeological sites and middens that date back centuries. The MPA is close to the Breede River estuary and, provides protection for species like cob (Argyrosomus spp.) that breed in the estuary and then return to the ocean.
History
The MPA was proclaimed by the Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Mohammed Valli Moosa, in Government Gazette No. 21948 of 29 December 2000 in terms section 43 of the Marine Natural Resources Act, 18 of 1998. The area was previously established as a nature reserve in 1985.
Purpose
A marine protected area is defined by the IUCN as "A clearly defined geographical space, recognised, dedicated and managed, through legal or other effective means, to achieve the long-term conservation of nature with associated ecosystem services and cultural values".
The public source identifies “De Hoop Marine Protected Area” as marine conservation area on the south coast of the Western Cape of South Africa. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Hoop, Marine and Protected.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 5, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q60773885. Authority coordinates are -34.500, 20.750. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2000, 1998 and 1985.
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This entry incorporates text from “De Hoop Marine Protected Area” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.