Bohdan Draganik
Sea Fisheries Institute, Kołłątaja 1, 81-332 Gdynia, Poland

Key words: recreational fishery, fish stock, professional fishery, overfishing.

Abstract.
The catch size and the extent of recreational fisheries in the countries of a high standard of living affect the numbers of the exploited populations. In the case of many fish species, the recreational fishery competes with the professional fishery. Such a situation requires the intervention of the fisheries administration, and the evaluation of the benefits for the state, stemming from the preference of one type of fishery to the other. In the paper, the features of both the types of fisheries are confronted - both their advantages and disadvantages - influencing the effective management of resources.