In large part, the manufacturing activity based in rural Nova Scotia is tied directly to the performance of the resource sectors. [...] In Nova Scotia, the economic importance of the primary sector and its associated processing of primary goods still serve as the economic lifeblood of many communities. [...] The map of the province shown below illustrates the distribution and magnitude of the charges to population by county. [...] As has been well documented, the collapse of the groundfish fishery has caused significant disruption to the province’s fishing industry at both the harvesting and processing level. [...] Virtually all underground coal mining in the province has shut down and the agriculture sector has continued to shrink in terms of the number of farms.