Since its conception, the station contributed immensely to the understanding of the bounties of Laguna de Bay and helped establish the duck farming industry on Los Baňos foreshores and pioneered in aquarium fish production in the country.

It serves as the base for studies on limnology and biology of aquatic organisms aimed at developing strategies for the optimum utilization and sustained production of aquatic resources; developing, adapting or improving conventional technologies used to increase fish production; and promoting environment friendly approaches for effective water management.

The idea of institutionalizing a Limnological Station began as a result of collaboration between Dr. Leopoldo B. Uichanco, professor and head of the Department of Entomology of the then UP College of Agriculture and Albert William Herre, then Chief of Fisheries Division, Bureau of Science, Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources on ‘Dolong’, a species of goby that can be found in Laguna de Bay (Ref: Letter of Albert W. Herre to Dr. L.B.

Dr. Deogracias V. Villadolid, upon his return after getting his Ph.D. in Aquatic Biology from Stanford University in 1927, Zoology was no longer a mere background to entomology.

Since then, work has not been resumed primarily due to lack of funds and low priority assigned to the activity in addition to the onset of World War II in 1941.

With it was burned everything that took the Department 32 years to accumulate including extensive insect and zoological collections, irreplaceable biological notes, valuable books and all the equipment.

When the programs in Hydrozoology and Wildlife Zoology were instituted, the need to reactivate and bring the Station back to its real potentials consequently started.

In 1975, an ad hoc committee for the reactivation of the Station was formed with Dr. Cesar P. Madamba of the Department of Zoology, CAS as Chairman.

The UPLB Limnological Research Station once again plays an important role in the fisheries sector through the leadership of their Station Manager, Dr. Pablo P. Ocampo, paving the way towards achieving its goals to: (1) develop optimum utilization and sustained production of aquatic resources; (2) conduct limnological studies; (3) conduct training and extension activities on different aspects of aquarium fish production; (4) develop culture technique for live feeds; (5) develop new aquarium varieties from indigenous fish species; and, (6) conduct captive breeding on some selected endemic/endangered freshwater fish species.

The main goals of the program are the following: (1) to develop an equip aqua laboratory where threatened and endangered native or endemic freshwater fishes can be provided with safe refuge until such time that adequate and protected natural habitat can be established; (2) to establish a self-sustaining captive breeding program and produce adequate breeding stock as backup populations, and attempt to develop techniques to prepare animals for re-introduction; (3) to document the status of different freshwater species in the wild, and set priorities for species to be conserved or re-introduced; and, (4) to develop information delivery systems that would underscore conservation education and public awareness that can create local support necessary in sustaining re-introduction efforts.