Public interest in aquatic foods in the United States: A study of internet search activity

Abstract

The U.S. seafood market has undergone major changes in the last decade, and market data is typically available with a significant delay, hindering the industry's capacity to respond. We examine U.S. public interest in aquatic foods over time utilizing weekly internet search data from July 2009 to July 2024 obtained from Google's search data platform, Google Trends. The analysis shows that internet searches and changes in their frequencies can reveal short-term shocks as well as longer trends. A major shift in the search volume index for fresh and frozen fish, as well as a shift from seafood restaurants to seafood recipes, was attributed to COVID-19. The results also show seasonality in public interest for seafood and show a declining search volume index for several species in recent years indicative of weak demand. The analysis highlights that internet search data can provide decision-makers with valuable market information much earlier than official statistics.