You are smack bang on the money Wolly. And there are a few issues at play.
Wolly Bugger wrote: ↑Fri May 03, 2019 9:05 pm
This is an awkward issue. Nobody owns the ocean or what is under the water. Even fishing from piers or the rocks, some fishermen get really upset if anyone is fishing in what they consider is their spot. Even though it is a public space.
Correct, with a social clause.
No-one owns any of it "physically". But there has to be "social convention" observed.
As an example:
A family are at a Public Park occupying one of the many Picnic Tables and enjoying a BBQ lunch being cooked at one of the BBQ s there. Two blokes come after and place their meat on the same BBQ hotplate that the family are using to cook with AND not using any of the other empty BBQ s. They also sit at the same Picnic Table that the family is sitting at, making it crowded, AND ignoring all the other empty Picnic Tables.
Yes, the family don't own The Park, or the BBQ, or the Picnic Table , , , , but the two blokes behaviour is not only rude, it is seen as Socially Unacceptable. Hence the correlation to Fishing Spots or that metre area that you are occupying on the Pier.
So yes it is an awkward issue and mainly the "intruder", who stands to benefit, is the one justifying the bad behaviour.
Conversely , , , , if that family's "favourite Picnic Table" is occupied when they arrive , , , , then they need to find a different one close , , , ,not on-top.
Wolly Bugger wrote: ↑Fri May 03, 2019 9:05 pm
Generally speaking, most places like reefs and wrecks are public knowledge about their locations. So GPS marks tend to be available to all. A few years ago a person who was in the charted business posted all their GPS marks for everyone to use. I have them, on my GPS but haven't fished a single one of them.
I was also given a few hundred GPS marks from another person and basically use them as reference points.
The protection of "known" spots isn't an issue, as they are already known to others.
"Our own" spots are the issue, as they are only known to us , , , , because we put the effort into sounding off and we discovered them.
As with the third point below by rb: I like many others, sound up our own spots, and generally away from recognised spots , , , , this then comes under the same notion as "intellectual property". I/we discovered the spot/co-ords, so we/I have a right to those co-ords but not the physical spot. So if someone coincidentally sounds up the same ground, then good luck to them. But bypassing the effort/work it takes to find a spot/co-ords and scamming/fleecing it from the original fisherman, well that is wrong , , , , just like stealing "Company Secrets" is.
Wolly Bugger wrote: ↑Fri May 03, 2019 9:05 pm
Whilst a GPS mark is useful, knowing when to be there is much more useful.
rb85 wrote: ↑Fri May 03, 2019 9:31 pm
Wolly is correct in everything that’s said but it’s better and more rewarding to earn your own keep.
Exactly , , , , Catchermen steal spots , , , , Fishermen find spots.
Also , , , , it is better to make your own fishing adventures than to copy/follow other people's.
Cheers, Bug