The International Game Fish Association (IGFA), the International Association for Sports Fisheries, is the world authority that regulates cane fishing and the world's most important party in the world and that regulates the categories of the parts caught sportively, within the most modern sustainability parameters, which are also welcomed by the major countries of the Western world, including the EEC. It was founded in 1939 and is currently based in the city of Dania Beach in the State of Floria in the USA:

The Association is responsible for the worldwide standardization of techniques, nomeclatures and codes relating to sport fishing. The IGFA strongly promotes the Capture and Release (Catch and Release, C & R) for the conservation of species, particularly those considered most sporting. The participants who are professionals and are governed under this institution seek to follow their strict rules for fair play and line demands to receive the honor of listing in their report "World Récord sports fishing"the main publication of this kind. The publication also gives fishing advice, and has a very extensive fish identification guide. IGFA is also an ardent advocate for the conservation of aquatic habitats, and cooperates with biologists and scientists around the world, and enjoys great prestige in all the fervent stages of sustainable fishing. Any event or championship that needs to be prestigious must necessarily take into account or at least be inspired by IGFA standards, if you want to be someone at national or international level.

In Spain it is represented by the Spanish Confederation of Responsible Recreative Fisheries (ERRFA):http: / / www.pescarecreativarsponsable.es /.

The Spanish Confederation of Responsible Recreative Fisheries was created in 2007, as a result of the days relating to the Maritime Fisheries of Recreo in Spain, on the occasion of the drafting of the White Paper on Fisheries, organized by the General Secretary of Fisheries of the Government of Spain. The White Paper on Fisheries articulates its contents through different headings and in particular deals independently with recreational fishing, since its continuity depends on the sustainability of the fisheries resources and is housed within the chapters on extractive fishing.

It is presented through a compilation of aspects relating to specific regulatory regulations, authorisations, specific prohibitions and other aspects relating to recreational fishing, thus trying to present a general view of it. However, the most relevant part is contained in the section entitled Conclusions, which is included in the heading "Debates of the Working Tables" in which the development and expansion of recreational fishing has been described in recent years. According to the White Paper, Recreative Maritime Fisheries has developed a significant growth and it is therefore necessary to take account of its impact on the state of fisheries resources and to take measures that are not intended to hinder their legitimate activity but to regulate it.

Finally, on the occasion of the drafting of the White Paper on fisheries and the special mention to be given to the situation of the Maritime Fisheries of Recreo in Spain, it was considered appropriate to establish a National Confederation and it was therefore decided to create, as a non-governmental non-profit organization based in the Balearic Islands, the Spanish Confederation for a Marine Fisheries of Recreo from the autonomous communities of the Spanish coast.