Resource management in the coastal zone involves a large number of stakeholders and resource users, from traditional fishermen and recreational housing owners to state and municipal government. The aim of this study is to show how spatial scarcity in Norwegian aquaculture is not solely a technical definition, but scarcity also depends upon the social context in which it operates. That is, what has influenced Norwegian aquaculture policy in spatial terms? This question is answered by looking at how allocation of space has developed from the early 1970s and to the present, what actors were involved, what arguments did they use and what was the spatial outcome of the chosen policies. Through a literature review, I have shown how discourses of regional policy, industrial policy, environmental policy and health policy have affected the spatial allocation of aquaculture licenses in the past. Moreover, I show that these discourses are a part of a larger coastal zone management discourse, which is becoming increasingly popular. Thus, scarcity of space in aquaculture is defined within the discursive framework that it operates.