I believe that Most people, if they knew the regs, would follow them.
I disagree and think you're being rather naive. Hard to say how many poachers would choose not to poach if they knew the regs exactly but my guess is MOST poachers choose to do so mainly because they know they are not likely to be checked or caught, so they see at as the risk is minimal and worth the reward, so they go ahead and break the rules...besides, that's ''ignorance as an excuse'' and it is a poor excuse.
Example being, pretty sure most EVERYONE knows barbless hooks are mandatory in lower mainland rivers yet a good half of used rigs/hooks I find on the Chilliwack river and others, even during stealhead season, on the banks, in snags etc. have barbs and I'm sure most frequent users of these systems are seeing the same thing. I mean look how many snaggers come out at salmon season, sneakily stashing intentionally fouled salmon or wild ho's. Do you really think these people are doing that because the regs are so hard to figure out that they don't know what they're doing is wrong?? No way.
bottom line is, yes, in instances finding specific regs can be somewhat confusing but most regs, imo, don't require Sherlock Holmes level investigative work to figure out... we're talking about using and harvesting a resource that belongs to everyone, lawfully using the resource should be taken seriously and responsibly, yes sometimes it requires you to look into things, it's not THAT hard 99% of the time but I will agree there are still contradictory or grey areas and the system can always be improved upon but to think somehow poaching would magically disappear or even diminish if regulation wording was changed/simplified is, like I said, Naïve.