The Province of Pangasinan is located on the western area of the island of Luzon along the Lingayen Gulf and South China Sea. Several rivers traverse the province wherein longest is the Agno River which originates from the Cordillera Mountains of Benguet, eventually emptying its waters into the Lingayen Gulf. Other major rivers include the Bued River, Angalacan River, Sinocalan River, Patalan River and the Cayanga River. Being a major fish and marine products supplier in Luzon, it has extensive fishponds, mostly for raising bangus or milkfish and other marine products with high commercial value including oyster, shrimp and lobster.
With this, the Pangasinan State University saw the need and the opportunity to introduce formal education in fisheries to help the people in Pangasinan effectively manage its rich aquatic resources. In the year 1981, the program BS Fisheries was offered in Binmaley Campus. To date, the program is considered one of the flagship program offerings of the University because of the performance of its graduates in the Fisheries Technologist Examinations and also being recognized by the Commission on Higher Education as Center of Excellence (COE) in Fisheries in 2002 up to present.
For the past years, it has consistently produced topnotchers in the Board Examinations, giving prestige and reputation to the university and producing skilled and conversant graduates. These graduates are able to contribute to the development of agriculture and aquatic-based industries which the Philippines needs most in order to properly harness its aquatic resources towards economic development. All of these was made possible because of the strong commitment of the university to lead the region and the nation as well in terms of various technologies applicable to fisheries education.