The Faculty of Fisheries and Protection of Waters was founded in 2009 and is the only one of its kind in central Europe. It continues the long tradition of fish farming in South Bohemia. It is the smallest in terms of the number of students and it is also the newest faculty of the University of South Bohemia but building on a long tradition of fishery research in Vodňany. The interest in studies, however, goes far beyond the South Bohemian Region. Young people and scientists come here for education and research from all over the world. Colleagues abroad perceive it as a prestigious research and educational institution focusing on freshwater fisheries, aquaculture, and freshwater management.

The faculty is housed simultaneously in three South Bohemian towns. The Institute of Aquaculture and Protection of Waters is located in České Budějovice, the Dean of the Faculty and the Research Institute of Fish Culture and Hydrobiology is in Vodňany, and the Institute of Complex Systems is in Nové Hrady. Research at all these institutes is linked through the South Bohemian Research Centre of Aquaculture and Biodiversity of Hydrocenoses (CENAKVA), which is among the most important institutions in Europe.

Prospective students are offered bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral study programmes. This top-class scientific facility with habilitation and professorial rights in the field of fisheries provides its students with education in two fields, namely the traditional field of study of Fishery, as well as the new Protection of Waters. Emphasis is put on the improvement of practical skills and language preparation of students at all three levels of education. The faculty is also devoted to lifelong learning and the popularisation of sciences, particularly at the MEVPIS centre in Vodňany where the faculty organises educational seminars, courses of the general public, summer schools, day camps, etc.