Over the course of the last decade, the U.S. developed an obsession with omega-3 fatty acids. As study after study coalesced around the idea that this nutrient, found commonly in seafood, could alleviate a host of woes from cardiovascular issues to mental decline, Americans began popping omega-3 supplements, mostly in the form of fish oil pills, by the bushel. It became a multibillion dollar industry .

But the scramble to get the (still debatable) benefits of omega-3s has lead to devastating overfishing of fish species like menhaden, which are crucial to the aquatic ecosystem, and has landed others, like whale sharks, on the endangered species list. With Americans’ enthusiasm for omega-3s showing no signs of cooling, finding an alternative to fish-derived nutrients became imperative. And Qualitas Health, a Texas-based nutrition company, has landed on a solution: algae.

Fish oil supplements are produced by treating and processing mass-caught fish in order to extract the oil that fills the softgels you can buy at the drugstore. But as author Paul Greenberg noted in the New York Times in 2009, the fish that become fish oil are the bottom-of-the-food-chain dwellers menhaden. “Nearly every fish a fish eater likes to eat eats menhaden,” Greenberg wrote. “Bluefin tuna, striped bass, redfish, and bluefish are just a few of the diners at the menhaden buffet. All of these fish are high in omega-3 fatty acids but are unable themselves to synthesize them. The omega-3s they have come from menhaden.” As more of these fish disappear into softgels, the nutritional supply of more consumer-friendly fish has become threatened.

Around 19 million (8% of the total population) adult Americans, lured by the health benefits, take omega-3 supplements in the form of fish oil. It’s far and away the most commonly consumed supplement in the country, and its ascent has been rapid: 8 million more people reported taking omega-3s in 2012 than did in 2007. As the demand for supplements continues to grow, Qualitas CEO Miguel Calatayud tells Fast Company, his company is setting out to offer a plant-based alternative to the fish and krill supplements currently driving that growth and dominating the market.

Qualitas has been cultivating algae in a 45-acre facility in Imperial, Texas, since 2012. It recently announced an expansion to a 100-acre facility in Columbus, New Mexico, in partnership with the commercial crop production company Green Stream Farms, which will more than triple Qualitas’s output.

In the company’s early days, Qualitas VP of operations Rebecca White tells Fast Company, “it was mainly about selling the omega-3s from algae as a bulk ingredient, and doing business-to-business sales.” But in March of 2016, Calatayud came on board as CEO and brought with him years of experience in the nutrition startup realm, and a vision to turn commercially grown algae into a viable and sustainable player in the health and wellness scene.

“People have the idea that omega-3s come from fish, but really, they’re getting the nutrients from algae,” White says. Qualitas, through cutting directly to the source, is capitalizing on a train of thought that cultivating this briny plant could help preserve both ocean ecosystems and human health. As Catharine Arnston, founder of the supplement company EnergyBits, told Fast Company just a few months ago: “In 10 years, [algae] is going to be in everything.” Algae’s nutritional profile is hard to argue with: The compact, sea-smelling plant is packed with protein (around 40%), vitamin A, vitamin B12, and iron, and, as Qualitas has already capitalized on, omega-3. “We’re really trying to promote a different perspective on algae—not as a science project, but as an agricultural venture,” Calatayud says. “This is a super-crop.”