Hope this answers your question, shoemaker.

In short, the max you could get is:

"The 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act protects seals, sea lions, whales and porpoises. It provides for maximum civil penalties of $11,000, and maximum criminal penalties of a $100,000 fine and a year in jail."

In one case:

"In September 2003, an Olympia man was fined $7,000 for killing a California sea lion on the Lewis River last spring. That fine was one of the largest ever imposed in the Northwest under the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act."

Heres another case:

"On December 11, 2003, North and Watson each pled guilty to a single count of violating the Marine Mammal Protection Act for having shot at and for having killed a sea lion, which is a class A misdemeanor. Both were sentenced on February 27, 2004.

According to the plea agreement, defendants Richard V. North and Rodney D. Watson violated the Marine Mammal Protection Act in March 2002 when they shot at sea lions that were feeding in the area. During two days in March, North and Watson were sport fishing for salmon on the Columbia River along the Washington State riverbank. North and Watson took turns firing a.22 caliber rifle at sea lions that were foraging for fish nearby in the river. North succeeded in shooting one of the sea lions in the head, causing the sea lion to thrash about and bleed profusely from the head area. The sea lion dove and surfaced several times in this condition, and then disappeared. The shooting was witnessed by several other boats in the area.

The court sentenced Richard North, who struck the sea lion, to 15 days of home detention with electronic monitoring, 100 hours of community service, a $1000 fine, and two years of supervised probation. Rodney Watson, who shot at but did not strike a sea lion, was sentenced to 75 hours of community service, a $1500 fine, and two year of supervised probation. The court also prohibited both men from fishing while accompanied by a firearm during the period of probation."

Just do a google search for Marine Mammal Protection Act Fines.

Those whackey, gun-tottin', seal shootin', morons make for some fun reads!

Pretty much, you get caught harassing a sea lion, you're gonna lose a good chunk of money, and depending on the judge, may or may not get to spend some quality time with your cell mate, Bubba, in prison.

Ya know, it only costs about $4 to replace that KwickFish, and you can always just fish again tomorrow...

Oh, and in case you are wondering, fisherman are so screwed when it comes to beefs over sea lions. This article pretty much sums up my statement that fisherman are hosed.

http://www.findarticles.com/cf_dls/m0BQK/1_9/112350816/p1/article.jhtml