Shanghai Ocean University is a university jointly established by the Shanghai Municipal People's Government, the State Oceanic Administration and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. It is a national "world-class discipline construction university", and has been selected into the excellent agricultural and forestry talents education and training plan of the Ministry of Education, the national postgraduate program of building high-level universities, the national "key discipline project with characteristics", the construction plan of high-level local universities in Shanghai, the national undergraduate innovation and entrepreneurship training plan, the universities with typical national graduate employment experience, and the first batch of universities in Shanghai to deepen innovation and entrepreneurship. It is an interdisciplinary applied research university with the characteristics of marine, aquatic products and food disciplines and the coordinated development of agriculture, science, engineering, economics, management, literature and law. It is the guiding unit of Shanghai Fisheries Society, Shanghai Food Society and Shanghai Fishery Economic Research Association, and owns the National University Science Park.
The school's predecessor was Jiangsu Fisheries School, which was founded in 19 12. It was upgraded to Shanghai Fisheries College, the first undergraduate fisheries university in China, and was renamed Shanghai Fisheries University on 1985 after being run by Fisheries College of Agricultural College of National Central University, National Sichuan Fisheries Vocational School, Shanghai Wusong Fisheries College and Shanghai Fisheries College.