The Agulhas Bank Complex Marine Protected Area is an offshore marine protected area on the continental shelf lying approximately 39 nautical miles southeast of Cape Agulhas off the Western Cape in the Exclusive Economic Zone of South Africa.

This MPA is intended to protect spawning aggregations of several economically important fish, including the endangered Red steenbras, the largest seabream, a long lived species that can reach lengths of over 1 m. Before this area was declared an Exclusive Economic Zone in 1972, foreign trawlers targeted redfish in the area, and considerable damage was done to the reefs.

Half of the MPA is zoned to allow the use of low impact fishing gear, and this will help support recovery of the damaged habitats.

[4] This MPA was specifically proclaimed to conserve pelagic, sandy, gravel, and rocky habitats of the Agulhas Bank.

[1][5] The MPA boundaries are:[6] The Agulhas Bank Complex restricted zone is the area within the boundaries (draft):[5] The Agulhas Bank Complex controlled zone is the area within the boundaries (draft):[5] The marine protected areas of South Africa are the responsibility of the national government, which has management agreements with a variety of MPA management authorities, which manage the MPA with funding from the SA Government through the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA).

[7] Commercial linefishing or harvesting of south coast rock lobster in the controlled zone requires a valid permit for the specific activity issued in terms of the Marine Living Resources Act and authorised for this MPA.

This convergence leads to treacherous sailing conditions, accounting for numerous wrecked ships in the area over the years.

However the meeting of the oceans here also fuels the nutrient cycle for marine life, making it one of the best fishing grounds in South Africa.

Winter in the South-western Cape is characterised by disturbances in the circumpolar westerly winds, resulting in a series of eastward moving depressions.

The MPA is in the warm temperate Agulhas inshore marine ecoregion to the east of Cape Point which extends eastwards to the Mbashe River.

The shorter Spiny kelp Ecklonia radiata also grows on deeper reefs, where there is not so much competition from the sea bamboo.

The sediment smay be moved around by wave and current action, to a greater or lesser degree depending on weather conditions and exposure of the area.

This means that sessile organisms must be specifically adapted to areas of relatively loose substrate to thrive in them, and the variety of species found on a sandy or gravel bottom will depend on all these factors.

Sedimentary bottoms have one important compensation for their instability, animals can burrow into the sediment and move up and down within its layers, which can provide feeding opportunities and protection from predation.