The use of the North Sea is extremely multi-faceted and high competitive.Within the vast variety of regulations within the EU and in Germany, theregulative framework relevant to aquaculture is yet incomplete. This paperprovides a short summary of the current legislative framework existent oninternational, national, and regional levels, which pertain aquaculturedevelopment in Germany. Following, it highlights the question of decisionmakingin the coastal zone within an integrated coastal zone management(ICZM) approach. It can be shown, that there is an ample need forsufficient regulations to optimise the management of the marineresources, especially in respect to further ecological and socio-economicsound aquaculture development. Within the ICZM framework foraquaculture management in the North Sea, we propose a scheme forfurther development and the establishment of an independentregulatory/advisory body, which encompasses all spatial levels.Additionally, we show which tools, such as DSS (e.g. GIS) and activeparticipation, could be used in such a scheme in the decision makingprocess and what outcomes at which stage is to be expected. The articlecloses with a call for integrative action in Germany for the furtherpromotion of aquaculture development by endorsing the idea of ICZM inorder to sustain its economic potential as alternative livelihood for coastalcommunities.