HALIFAX, N.S. – The Nova Scotia fishing industry is about to reach its lowest employer rate since 2004, due to significant safety improvements in the sector over the past two years, according to a Sept. 1 announcement from the Workers’ Compensation Board of Nova Scotia (WCB). The Board revealed that the industry rate would decrease by 19 per cent for 2016, dropping to $6.51 per $100 of assessment. The WCB credited the rate drop to the establishment of the Safe at Sea Alliance in 2014, after which the number of days lost due to injury in the industry had dropped by more than one-third. The rate had previously increased every year for more than a decade because of a large amount of injuries and fatalities in the fishing sector, the Board said. “This strong drop in the overall industry rate demonstrates the safety progress we’ve seen firsthand over the past few years,” WCB CEO Stuart MacLean said in a press statement. “There is still much more work to be done, and the positive momentum needs to continue. The industry can’t stop now.” The WCB added that employer rates would be dropping for the aquaculture, fish-buying and fish-processing sectors as well.