The aim of the article is a comparative analyze of legal regulation of fishery in Russia and foreign states. According to this goal, the task of comparison of fishery legislation of Russia and other CIS countries, Russia and EU State as well as North American countries arises. The author tries to solve one more issue — to consider how current legal regulation correlates with the concept of fishery in Russia. Legislation in the sphere of fishery is developing dynamically. Despite the different time of appearance and the differences of legal systems, mentioned legislation can be compared in the basic directions of legal regulation. The article applied the method of comparative legal regulation, the historical method of extrapolating. Also the scientific methods of deduction and induction are applied. The author used the instruments of international soft law and the works of specialists in the mentioned area of the legal regulation. The article consists of following sections: statement of the question; sources of law; key rules-definitions; principles and key provisions of the legislation; the quota system of catches, licensing and contractual methods of regulation; the payment principle and the nature of the distribution of funds received. In conclusion the author emphasized the approximation of the legislation of Russia and other CIS countries in the field of fisheries (concerning the concepts, basic provisions, types of fishery and quotas). Also, there are some similarities in a combination of licensing and contractual methods of regulation in Russian and Canadian legislation.