Panama has been very aggressive in its preservation of sport fishing. A law protects all billfish from being caught commercially. The Pinas area has a 20 mile "non-commercial" fishing zone radius, prohibiting any type of commercial fishing. Sport fishermen are encouraged to release all billfish. The IGFA gave the 1999 conservation award in the country category to Panama and the Panamanian President went to Florida to personaly accept this prestigious award.

Many anglers practice catch and release methods with the aid of "circle hooks". This conservation-minded technique reduces the perennial problem of deep hooked fish and their survivability after release.