Rothamsted Research Institute has been granted permission for another open air field trial of an experimental genetically modified crop.

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In January, Rothamsted applied to Defra for permission to trial camelina (or flax) plants that produce omega 3 fatty acids, most commonly found in fish. Omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFAs) have been shown to protect against coronary heart disease, but there are widespread concerns over the impact that fishing is having on the environment.

The global fishing fleet is thought to be up to three times larger than the oceans can realistically support and the world's fisheries have been overexploited to the point that stocks of all fish species currently caught for food are expected to collapse by the middle of the century, unless drastic action is taken to protect the oceans.  

Fish – like humans – do not produce omega-3 oils but accumulate them through their diet in the wild or through fishmeal and fish oil in farmed fish. Currently, over 70 percent of all fish oil gathered each year is consumed by the aquaculture sector. Demand is such that the rapidly expanding aquaculture industry is still seeking new sources of omega-3s. However, the rise of aquaculture has created new and serious problems for the marine environment and coastal communities. Rothamsted scientists claim that one potential means of moving "towards flexible and sustainable supply of omega-3" is to engineer a crop plant that can synthesise the fatty acids.  

On Wednesday, Rothamsted announced that its risk assessment had been approved by the Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment (ACRE) and it had been granted a license to trial the plants. The trial will examine how well the modified plants produce LC-PUFAs.

Professor Johnathan Napier, the scientist leading the project, said he was "Very pleased"by defra's decision. He said, "We have made considerable progress over the last 10 years in designing and developing these plants and my colleagues and I am very happy that we can now test the performance of these plants in the field, under real life conditions."

Now that the four-year trial has been green lighted, GM Camelina seeds will be sown by mid-May this year. The plants will be harvested August/September 2014, and a small amount of seed will be used to analyse the oil content. The rest of the seed and plant material will be destroyed.

However, Emma Hockridge, Soil Association head of policy questioned the value of the research. She commented, "This is a waste of scarce public funds by Rothamsted Research – it is choosing to carry out trials of GM Camelina when two non-GM Omega 3 producing crops are already available to UK farmers.

"GM crops are making farming less fair, more risky and no more sustainable. Instead, we support practical science and innovation that addresses real needs, is genuinely sustainable and puts farmers in control of their livelihoods."

In 2012, another controversial field trial led to a public protest at Rothamsted. Scientists at the Hertfordshire Institute stirred controversy when they secured permission for the UK's first open air field trial of GM wheat. The wheat had been engineered to repel aphids by releasing an 'alarm' hormone to attract the pests' natural predators.

Though the scientists claimed the research could lead to a reduction in the use of damaging pesticides, critics pointed out that there is no market for the wheat and questioned the robustness of the risk assessment procedure.

Although Rothamsted staff managed to deflect initial opposition to their project in 2012, in part by emphasising that the research was publicly funded, responding to a Parliamentary question in 2013, Business Secretary Jo Swinson revealed that the GM traits in the wheat being trialled at Rothamsted have already been patented by private companies, raising questions over who will benefit from the trial, which has cost taxpayers over £1.28 million so far.