The province’s fisheries minister says he is very pleased the Marine Institute will lead an external review of the Northern Harvest salmon mortality that saw some 2.6-million salmon die.

Gerry Byrne says the Marine Institute will define the final terms of reference, and wrote the final draft on the plans for the external review.

They will examine the timelines of the mortality event; the report by the provincial aquaculture veterinarian and other relevant information.

Byrne says they will also look at additional expertise from outside the province to assist them.

He says they will ensure there is good confidence in the end product they produce, but at the end of the day, he is pleased that one of the province’s “most significant and esteemed post-secondary academic institutions” will be engaged in the very important public policy piece.

Byrne says they will provide their thoughts and recommendations through a fact-finding exercise to determine exactly what happened.