The International Underwater Spearfishing Association (IUSA) was formed in 1950 to promote spearfishing and to assist in scientific and spearfishing competitive efforts. As part of this task, the IUSA became the certifying body and custodian of the spearfishing world records. The IUSA has certified several hundred records for a variety of fish from large bluewater species to smaller fish. Through several decades of existence, the IUSA has seen diver's skill and technology change from the Hawaiian slings of the Pinder Brothers to the high-tech equipment and super-powered spearguns of today's freedivers.

In keeping with the need for change, and through the voluntary efforts of divers and other individuals who wish to see freediving and spearfishing reach it's highest possible standards of excellence, the IUSA has recently undergone changes to reflect the changes occurring in the freediving community.

INTERNATIONAL UNDERWATER SPEARFISHING ASSOCIATION MISSION

The mission of the International Underwater Spearfishing Association is to promote ethical, safe and sportsmanlike spearfishing practices, to encourage and support a sense of environmental responsibility among divers, to establish uniform regulations for the compilation of world spearfishing records, to provide basic spearfishing guidelines for use in other spearfishing activities, and to participate in educational and scientific programs.

Towards these ends, the International Underwater Spearfishing Association will:

(a) Promote the highest ethical standards of sportsmanship for spearfishing world wide;

(b) Maintain on-going dialogue with spearfishers all over the world, and consider the international community in its decision making processes;

(c) Work with the scientific community, fisheries management organizations, fish and game departments world wide, together with spearfishing clubs around the world, to increase our knowledge of the environment, as well as to educate and encourage environmental responsibility among divers and the public;

(d) Accept applications for new world records, carefully evaluate each applicant fairly based upon uniform standards, and award applicants who have proven beyond doubt that they have followed these standards and indeed have achieved a new world record;

(e) Carefully maintain these spearfishing world records and make them available to the public through the Internet, dive publications, and other media;

(f) Select the annual Fish of the Year.

To fulfill the stated mission of the IUSA, the Board of Directors has been increased to give a broader, fresher, more updated view of the freediver's world. The current board members are listed in the board page.

The Board was selected to bring a much stronger representation of today's freedivers and spearfishers. Patterned somewhat after the International Game Fish Association, the IUSA hopes to establish international representatives as well as create a general membership to help further freediving and spearfishing.

As part of the reorganization, the Board of Directors had to address the problem of establishing a new list of world record species along with more current rules by which a world record fish is to be taken. The IUSA is extremely proud of the past efforts of divers which have resulted in world records and is dedicated to protecting those records already established. Due to the changing technology and the subsequent changing of the rules, the IUSA has constructed a system by which all future and past world record holders will benefit.

Old Rules

The old rules governing spearfishing world records ended at midnight PST on December 31, 1996. Spearfishing world records established under these rules are designated as 20th Century records and will stand forever. The new spearfishing world record rules took effect at 12:01 PST on January 1, 1997. World records established under these new rules are designated as 21st Century records and are the records which divers can attempt to attain.. Also with the new rules is a list of fish which are ineligible for consideration as world records.

It is hoped that the IUSA will motivate freedivers to participate not only in a world record attempt, but also in the selective and honorable sport of spearfishing