White spot syndrome virus (WSSV) has been extensively investigated since the white spot disease outbreak in shrimp in 1990. These investigations have mainly focused on determining the function of viral structural proteins, and on utilizing the envelope proteins as subunit vaccines to protect the host. These studies have shown that a WSSV vaccine can be a practical and effective approach for controlling WSSV infection. The development of such a vaccine has become an intense focus of research in the field. This research has resulted in significant progress in the development of WSSV vaccines. However, because of the progress of this work, periodic summaries are needed to facilitate further research on the development of effective WSSV vaccines. This paper provides a comprehensive summary on the status of WSSV vaccines with regard to the following aspects: subunit vaccines, inactivated whole virus vaccines, DNA vaccines, protective antibodies, and the application of RNAi technology. Current limitations in this area of research are also described, as well as prospects for the development and application of improved WSSV vaccines in the future, and for investigating other important aquatic diseases.