Background 
The Sustainable Scottish Marine Environment Initiative (SSMEI) was conceived following the recommendations of the Scottish Government's Marine Sub-Group (MSG), established to examine the management of Scotland's marine environment within the context of proposed reforms to the system of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). The group considered the potential implications of the then UK Marine Nature Conservation Bill for Scotland and recommended that an exact legislative equivalent was not the right way forward for Scotland.
Instead, the MSG and the Scottish Government agreed that work was required to identify what elements of Scotland's natural heritage, if any, required additional protection and how this might be best achieved within the wider context of sustainable development. In 2002, funding of £250,000 was announced to resource a Sustainable Scottish Marine Environment Initiative, along with a SSMEI steering group to oversee and co-ordinate the work programme.
As part of its remit, the SSMEI is examining the nature, scale and potential of social, economic and environmental resources in Scottish waters, along with the pressures they face, focusing on the sustainable management of Scotland 's coastal marine environment.
Undertaken in three phases, the initiative's work programme has brought together organisations from a broad range of interested sectors, including nature conservation and biodiversity; fisheries and aquaculture; water quality; tourism and recreation; civil engineeering and economic development.
Strategic conceptualisation and planning was undertaken in Phase I, scoping and design of the framework for a series of pilot management schemes in Phase II. Implementation of these pilots schemes is now in progress as part of the final Phase III.
Aims
Process
- Promote more holistic and integrated approaches that embrace the key principles of marine management
- Link and integrate existing management instruments
- Employ effective mechanisms to increase awareness and appropriate communication between resource users and other stakeholders
- Enable the development and evaluation of innovative management approaches, including promotion of techniques to assist users to better manage their resources
- Ensure consistency with International, UK and Scottish Government commitments and obligations
Outcomes
- Establish a suite of pilot schemes, developing transferable and applicable innovative approaches to delivering sustainable marine management for Scotland
- Ensure an economically and socially sustainable future for Scotland's coastal communities and marine industries
- Deliver environmental benefits whilst supporting sustainable use of natural resources
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