The province’s fisheries minister isn’t apologizing for his handling of the mass salmon die-off on the south coast.

Opposition Leader Ches Crosbie questioned Gerry Byrne in the House on Monday about the issue, asking him to follow the lead of MOWI’s CEO, and apologize for what Crosbie is calling the “salmon catastrophe”.

Byrne gave a lengthy response about lessons learned, but never did apologize.

He says lessons have been learned and they have been incorporated into what he calls their “new, robust policies and license conditions”.

Byrne says there is one point the House can take away from the mess. Byrne says with the “robust” set of polices and license conditions, advancements on the Code of Containment that’s being worked on with the federal government, and the new regulations that will be put in place, aquaculture is going to be sustainable and is here to stay to provide jobs for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

However, Crosbie was quick to get a dig in before moving on, saying clearly the answer to his question was that the minister will not be tendering an apology.