Five new marine protected areas are to be established along South Africa's shoreline.

This will increase the total area of the country's coastline under protection to 19 percent.

Speaking at parliament on Monday, Marine and Coastal Management head Horst Kleinschmidt said that once the new marine protected areas (MPAs) were proclaimed, South Africa would almost have hit the international coastal protection target of 20 percent.

This target was set last year at the World Parks Congress in Durban.

The MPAs would include a 90km strip off the Eastern Cape's Pondoland coast as well as a huge area extending far out into the Atlantic Ocean off Namaqualand.

Draft legislation to regulate the MPAs would appear in the Government Gazette today. The public would then have 90 days in which to comment on the proposals.

Kleinschmidt said his department was keen to implement protection for these areas with legislation "that has teeth".

In order to safeguard biodiversity for future generations, "the sea has to become a regulated environment".

So far, the stocks of 19 species of fish in South African waters had collapsed and about 50 more were endangered.

The protected areas would serve as sanctuaries and breeding grounds to ensure the continued existence of many marine species, he said.

Marine and Coastal Management oceanographer Dr Colin Attwood said MPAs offered the highest form of protection possible for marine species. "The areas are the marine equivalent of a national park," he said.

Aliwal Shoal - A reef off KwaZulu- Natal's South Coast, which is home to certain unique species of hard- and soft coral

Pondoland - Will extend about 90km from Port St Johns north to the Mtamvuna River, and about 15km out to sea. The total area of the MPA (marine protected area) will be 1 300sq km

Bird Island group - Situated in Algoa Bay, the Bird, Seal and Stag islands are home to several species of endangered seabirds, while the reefs around them are breeding grounds for abalone and linefish. The protection of the islands "is the first stage in the expansion of the Greater Addo Elephant National Park to include parts of Algoa Bay"

Cape Peninsula - The new MPA will include all the coastal waters around the peninsula, from Mouille Point in the west to Muizenberg in the east. It will be an extension of the Cape Peninsula National Park, which will be responsible for managing the MPA. The area will also include six areas that are to be closed to fishermen.

Namaqualand - Once proclaimed, this will be South Africa's largest MPA, covering 9 700sq km. It will extend from the inter-tidal area between the Groen and Spoeg rivers out to sea, including the Child's Bank seamount to the 1 000m isobath. The area - biologically rich and home to various shallow and deepwater marine species such as hake, kingklip, monkfish, rock lobster and tuna - faces serious threats from trawling and mining activities -Sapa