Shanghai Ocean University (SHOU) is a multidisciplinary, applied research university, co-established by the State Oceanic Administration, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and the Shanghai Municipal People's Government. In September 2017, it was elected into China’s World First-Class Disciplines Project. In February 2022, it was included on the list of the second round of Double First-Class Initiative (i.e., world-class universities and first-class disciplines).

School motto: Diligence, Sincerity, Dedication, and Practicality, established on September 1, 1914. Original inspiration: Sea rights extend to the limits of fishing zones. School-running tradition: Write the thesis on the rivers and lakes of the motherland and the oceans and seas of the world.

The predecessor of SHOU was Jiangsu Provincial Fisheries School founded by Zhang Jian and Huang Yanpei in 1912. Its former names include the School of Fisheries under the College of Agriculture of National Central University, Shanghai Municipal Wusong Fisheries Technical School, Shanghai Fisheries Technical School, etc. In 1952, it was upgraded to Shanghai Fisheries Institute, the first undergraduate fisheries university in China. In 1972, the institute was relocated to Jimei, Xiamen, and renamed as Xiamen Fisheries Institute. In 1979, it was relocated back to Shanghai and resumed its former name Shanghai Fisheries Institute, but Xiamen Fisheries Institute was kept as well. In 1985, it was renamed Shanghai Fisheries University. In 2008, it was renamed Shanghai Ocean University.

The university currently has 12 colleges (departments), nearly 12,000 full-time undergraduate students, and more than 5,700 full-time graduate students. It employs a total of 1,500 teaching and administrative staff members, including more than 800 teachers and scientific researchers, among them more than 500 with senior professional and technical positions, 38 full-time national-level talents (nine enjoying the State Council special allowance), and 227 provincial and ministerial-level talents.It offers forty-four undergraduate specialties, eight national-level first-class undergraduate specialties, fifteen municipal-level first-class undergraduate specialties, five national-level characteristic specialties, one specialty accredited by the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), four specialties accredited by German Accreditation Agency for Study Programs in Engineering, Informatics, Natural Sciences and Mathematics (ASIIN), four specialties accredited by China Engineering Education Accreditation Association (CEEAA), and one specialty which has passed the “Yangtze River Delta Certification of New Liberal Arts Specialties”. The university has 11 national first-class courses, 36 Shanghai municipal first-class courses, three national excellent courses, 45 Shanghai municipal excellent courses and demonstration courses, one national teaching team, and four Shanghai municipal teaching teams. There are also seven Shanghai municipal curriculum ideological and political education demonstration courses, one winner of the Award of Shanghai Municipal Outstanding Teachers at Colleges and Universities, and four Shanghai municipal demonstration teams. There are also two national experimental teaching demonstration centers, three Shanghai municipal experimental teaching demonstration centers, 179 undergraduate teaching internship bases, three national virtual-simulation experimental teaching projects, and 13 Shanghai municipal projects. Since 2013, the university has won one second prize of the National Teaching Achievement Award, as well as one grand prize, nine first prizes, and 17 second prizes of the Shanghai Teaching Achievement Award. The university is one of the first pilot schools for the overall teaching reform of curriculum ideological and political education in Shanghai, one of the first demonstration universities for deepening innovation and entrepreneurship education reform, one of the first demonstration schools for governing schools according to law in Shanghai, and one of the first demonstration centers for curriculum ideological and political education research in Shanghai. It has been elected among key pilot universities for reform of curriculum ideological and political education in Shanghai, one of the first model branches in national university Party building, and one of the first national Dual-leader teachers’ Party branch secretary studios in colleges and universities. The university is also one of the first pilot units for E-Class in China, and has successively won the grand prize of the National Excellent Achievement Award for Campus Culture Construction in Universities and the first prize of the Shanghai Education Reform Experiment Award. The Center for College Students’ Mental Health Research and Education has been rated as a Demonstration Center for Mental Health Education and Counseling at Shanghai Institutions of Higher Learning for three consecutive rounds, and has been selected as a typical case for the Ministry of Education’s guidance on college mental health education. The university is also known for its rich and colorful campus culture, which is inseparable from the blossoming of more than 90 student clubs, including cultural and sports as well as scientific and technological clubs. Notably, it has won a gold award in the Entrepreneurship Youth China College Students’ Entrepreneurship Competition, a first prize in the Challenge Cup National Undergraduate Extracurricular Academic Science and Technology Contest, etc. In the past five years, the university won two gold prizes and three silver prizes in the Odyssey of the Mind World Finals, as well as multiple gold and silver prizes in national art performances and over 60 awards in municipal art competitions. In addition, it has won eight national awards in social practices under the Volunteer Activities for the Country People program (a program under which officials, doctors, scientists, college students go to the countryside to spread scientific and literacy knowledge and offer medical service to farmers), and more than 40 awards in the Knowledge and Action Cup Shanghai University Student Social Practice Competition. The university has also built a series of museums and educational venues, like the University History Museum (composed of the History Museum of Traditional Disciplines, Specialties, and Courses and the Campus Culture Exhibition Hall for College Students), the Museum (consisted of the Science Museum of Aquatic Organisms, the Whale Museum, the Pelagic Fishery Exhibition Hall, the Rainbow-fish Deep-sea Science Popularization and Experience Base, and the China Fishery Administration Ship 206), etc.

At present, the university has four Doctoral degree conferral programs in first-level disciplines, 14 Master’s degree programs in first-level disciplines, one Master’s degree program in a second-level discipline, eight professional Master's degree programs, and four centers for post-doctoral studies. Besides, it has one national first-class discipline, one national key discipline, three Summit and Plateau disciplines in Shanghai institutions of higher learning, three first-class disciplines in Shanghai institutions of higher learning, and nine key disciplines of provincial and ministerial levels. Five of its disciplines (i.e., plant and animal science, agricultural science, environment/ecology, engineering, and biology & biochemistry) have entered the world top 1% of the Essential Science Indicators (ESI) International Discipline Ranking. The discipline of fisheries science has been rated A+ in the fourth and fifth rounds of national discipline assessment. The university is also home to the FAO Center for Ecological Aquaculture (CEA), National Engineering Technology Research Center, National Engineering Laboratory, National Center for International Joint Research under the Ministry of Science and Technology, National University Science Park, and more than 30 key laboratories and platforms of provincial and ministerial levels (including those under the Ministry of Education). Moreover, it has built several university-level scientific research platforms, including the Center for Aquatic Organism Breeding Research, the Research Center for Extreme Ocean Processes and Resources, the Marine Think Tank Research Center, the International Center for Marine Studies, the Sino-Australian Joint Research Centre for Ocean Engineering, the International Performance Research Center for Pelagic Fishery, and the Institute of Marine Science. Besides the first pelagic fishery resources research vessel in China (Songhang) and the only laboratory for ship’s ballast water testing certified by CNAS, CMA, DNV GL, and USCG in China, it has also built Asia’s largest and the world’s third largest dynamic water tank, and developed a 10,000 m-level lander with a depth capacity of 10,918 m. The university also serves as a guiding unit of the Shanghai Society of Fisheries, the Shanghai Society of Food Science, and the Shanghai Research Society of Fishery Economy. Since 2011, it has made multiple breakthroughs in the research fields of natural sciences and humanities and social sciences, and won one National Award for Progress in Science and Technology and 36 provincial and ministerial-level awards as the first completion unit. By leveraging its disciplinary and scientific research advantages, SHOU has achieved significant results in serving society. Since 2011, it has guided rural households in Miaoli County of Taiwan in the breeding of hairy crabs, setting an example of cross-Straits agricultural cooperation. The Professor & Doctor Service Group of Fishery Science and Technology, set up to provide scientific and technological services throughout the country, has engaged in targeted poverty alleviation in Tibet, Xinjiang, Shaanxi, Guizhou, and other provinces, with remarkable achievements. The project has been elected among the second and fifth batches of Typical Targeted Poverty Alleviation and Targeted Poverty Elimination Projects at Provincial Institutions of Higher Learning released by the Ministry of Education. The International Compliance Team for Pelagic Fishery, which has fully undertaken the task of fulfilling our obligations under regional fisheries management conventions on behalf of China since the 1990s and made important contributions to safeguarding China’s pelagic fishery rights and interests, has been selected among the first batch of National Huang Danian-style Teacher Teams in Institutions of Higher Learning.

Currently, the university has two campuses, namely, the Hucheng Ring Road Campus in Pudong New Area and the Jungong Road Campus in Yangpu District, as well as a 386 mu coastal base and a 56.7 mu Xiangshan Scientific Education Base. To be specific, the Hucheng Ring Road Campus (the main campus) occupies a floor area of over 1,600 mu, with a planned construction area of 586,000 m2. The university has also built its modern campus network, and established the National Data Center for Distant-Water Fisheries of China and the Super-computing Center for Marine Science. The university currently has over 1.67 million paper books, nearly 1.12 million electronic books, and 106 databases. The collection resources have highlighted its features in marine, fisheries, and food sciences. In 2016, it sponsored Aquaculture and Fisheries, the first English journal of fisheries science in the Chinese Mainland, which was later included by Scopus, BIOSIS Previews (BP), Biological Abstracts (BA), and the Chinese Science Citation Database (CSCD). The Journal of Fisheries of China and the Journal of Shanghai Ocean University, also sponsored by the university, are Chinese core journals, Chinese science and technology core journals, and core journals of the Chinese Science Citation Database (CSCD). Notably, the Journal of Fisheries of China has won the titles of China’s Top 100 Newspapers and Periodicals, China's Top Quality Periodicals, and Top 100 Outstanding Academic Journals of China.

SHOU actively expands its external cooperation, and has maintained close exchanges and cooperation with colleges and universities in the US, Japan, South Korea, Germany, Portugal, Australia, Ghana, and other countries (regions), as well as international organizations such as United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (UNFAO) and the Asian Fisheries Society (AFS), and concluded cooperation agreements with more than 140 overseas institutions of higher learning as well as research institutions. Since 2011, it has dispatched over 4,000 students abroad through the channels of study tours, overseas study, exchange programs, and so forth; has been elected as an Asian Campus among China, Japan, and South Korea for two consecutive sessions; has obtained approval for projects such as the International Cooperative Training Programs for Innovative Talents under the China Scholarship Council; and has launched the Erasmus program of mutual recognition of credits with institutions of higher learning in Spain, Portugal, etc. By these means, the university provides a series of platforms for Chinese and foreign teachers and students to further expand their international vision, cultivate international communication skills, and strengthen international competitiveness.

The development goal of the university for the new era is to turn into a high-level characteristic university with important international influence by 2035. By the middle of this century, the university will have become a world-class characteristic university.