  A fundamental tenet of gauge theory is that physical quantities should be
gauge-invariant. This prompts the question: can gauge symmetries have physical
significance? On one hand, the Noether theorems relate conserved charges to
symmetries, endowing the latter with physical significance, though this
significance is sometimes taken as indirect. But for theories in spatially
finite and bounded regions, the standard Noether charges are not
gauge-invariant. I here argue that gauge-\emph{variance} of charges is tied to
the nature of the non-locality within gauge theories. I will flesh out these
links by providing a chain of (local) implications: `local conservation
laws'${\Rightarrow}$ `conserved regional charges' $\Leftrightarrow$
`non-separability' ${\Leftrightarrow}$ `direct empirical significance of
symmetries'.
