Let R be the quotient of a regular coherent commutative ring by a finitely
generated ideal. In this paper, we classify all abelian subcategories of fi
nitely presented R-modules that are closed under extensions. We also classi
fy abelian subcategories of arbitrary R-modules that are closed under exten
sions and coproducts, when R is commutative and Noetherian. The method reli
es on comparison with the derived category of R.