Yikes, I see at least a two pager developing out of this thread.

Anyway, I've been to a lot of places where snagging occurs, and I've seen the types of people these fisheries attract. Talk about scraping the bottom of the barrel. If these people are already fishing illegally, usually blatantly, why would these people pay extra to get (not "fish for") fish this way? Not to mention, snaggers will snag fish wherever they can, legal or illegal. Last thing I want them to do is hone their skills to use elsewhere. Why not just increase the fines by something like 10 times? People would still be stupid enough to do it and the state would bring in 10 times more money.

Another thing to consider: fishing is suppose to be fishing. What kind of message would this send to the general public about fishermen? Wasn't part of the reason the net ban initiative a number of years ago failed was because the public saw fishermen as just being greedy and wanting more fish? Seems that most places where excessive snagging occurs are absolutely trashed as well.