Canned Light Tuna

part of: Skipjack Tuna

Light tuna, most commonly skipjack, is the everyday canned tuna found in Australian kitchens. It has a darker colour and more pronounced, fishier flavour than albacore, with a softer texture that flakes and breaks apart easily — ideal for mixing into pasta, rice dishes, or mashing with mayonnaise for sandwiches.

Packed in water and drained, it’s a lean and affordable source of protein that keeps well in the pantry. Skipjack is the most abundantly caught tuna species globally, and its smaller size and faster reproduction rate generally make it a more sustainable choice than larger tuna varieties.

Wild
photograph to come — from twenty years of markets, farms and kitchens

How it's made

Skipjack tuna are caught primarily by purse seine nets in tropical waters. The fish are frozen at sea, then thawed at the cannery, headed, gutted, and steam-cooked. After cooling, workers remove the skin, bones, and dark bloodline meat by hand. The cleaned flesh is packed into cans with water, sealed, and retorted under pressure to produce a sterile, shelf-stable product.

Nutrition (per 100g)

Energy 90kcal
Protein 19g
Carbs 0.1g
Fat 0.9g
Fibre 0g Sugar 0g
Mass Distribution

1 RACC is about 85 g — roughly 80 kcal of this.

What it costs the planet (per kilo)

Carbon ≈7.81kg
Freshwater ≈5021.95L
Land ≈5.81m²

≈ Estimated — worked out from a category-typical value further up its supply chain. Where this comes from →

Where it comes from

In the kitchen

Used as

pantry protein staple

Classic dishes
  • Tuna Salad
  • Niçoise Salad
  • Tuna Casserole
  • Tuna Melt

Keeping one at home? Track yours in your cubud →

Where this data comes from

Nutrition data from

USDA

How it was calculated

Analytical

Full credits, licences, and methods: the sources page →

Where to next

made fromSkipjack Tuna, flesh goes well withmayonnaise goes well withcelery goes well withlemon goes well withonion goes well withcapers goes well withpasta shares a sourceBonito Flakes shares a sourceSkipjack Tuna
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