Protesters gathered at a conference in Saskatoon on Monday. They made noise, confronted scientists and blocked buses . All to make their point - that genetically modified foods should be banned.

They're against altered crops and vegetables, and they're just as alarmed that a group of scientists has genetically engineered salmon to grow faster - salmon the scientists say is safe to eat.

Atlantic salmon is being changed. Their genes are being altered to make them grow 33 per cent faster. The idea is to breed genetically modified salmon, using only the sterile ones in fish farms. That would prevent the salmon from escaping into the ocean and breeding with wild salmon.

Garth Fletcher is the head researcher with the team from Memorial University in St. John's. He will tell the conference that after 18 years of work he's ready to seek regulatory approval to breed and market the fish.

But there's concern from international scientists. Most of them specialize in genetically modified plants. Some say it's easier to control plants if a genetic project goes wrong, but animals are another matter. "If a gene escapes into the wild population it might be of harm," says Klaus Ammann from Berne University in Switzerland.

Worries like that are the reason the salmon researchers were invited to the conference.

"As a group we wanted to make sure we were up to date with the research that's going on, so we would be aware of any potential hazards long before the project goes to market," said Hugh McHughen, the conference chair.

Groups representing consumers say scientists better be careful. "I think it's going to be really, really important that this is handled properly or we are going to find a major uprising that we haven't seen before from consumers," said Jennifer Hillard of the Consumers' Association of Canada.

The salmon researchers say they have the public's best interest at heart. World fisheries are in crisis and this, they say, could help meet demand for fish well into the future.