The Atlantic fishery is the oldest industry in the region. Protecting the fish stocks and preventing overfishing is now a vital issue in the Atlantic provinces. Today, most manufacturing in the Atlantic region involves processing timber, agricultural crops and fish. In Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, agricultural crops such as potatoes and fruit are sold as fresh or frozen food products in Canada and to other countries. New Brunswick and Nova Scotia have extensive forests that allow them to produce valuable products like pulp, paper and lumber.
Forest products are the most valuable manufacturing industry in New Brunswick.
Newfoundland, traditionally dependent on the fishing industry, is developing its other natural resources such as oil, nickel, copper and cobalt. St. John's, Newfoundland Service industries are also very important to the Atlantic economy and the majority of people have jobs delivering these services. As in the rest of Canada, more people work in banking, government, and financial and personal services than in traditional resource industries. The Atlantic Ocean is also important as a tourist resource in the region. The spectacular scenery and the beautiful coastlines and beaches attract thousands of tourists to the Atlantic provinces each year, creating many service industry jobs.