The Tin Tuna Index
Measuring Global Food Inequality Through the Ocean's Harvest
From the depths of our oceans comes a simple truth about global inequality: the time it takes a minimum-wage worker to afford basic protein reveals the hidden architecture of our interconnected world, where abundance and scarcity coexist in patterns that challenge our understanding of fairness and justice.
The Ocean's Paradox
Picture the vast expanses of the Indian Ocean, where schools of skipjack tuna migrate through international waters, their movements dictating the livelihoods of millions. These fish, swimming freely through marine ecosystems that know no national boundaries, become trapped in human systems of extraordinary complexity and inequality once they breach the surface in industrial nets.
The Tin Tuna Index measures this inequality by calculating a deceptively simple metric: how many minutes of minimum-wage labor does it take to purchase a standard 170-gram tin of tuna in different countries? This measurement cuts through the abstractions of traditional economic indicators to examine something fundamental—whether working people can afford the basic nutrition that their own labor helps produce.
What emerges from this analysis is a map of global inequality more revealing than GDP statistics or currency comparisons. The same ocean that provides protein security for wealthy populations becomes a site of extraction and immiseration for coastal communities worldwide. The mathematics are stark, but they tell stories of human consequence that extend far beyond numbers.
British workers earning £12.21 per hour can afford tuna in less time than it takes to prepare a simple meal, reflecting the purchasing power advantages of developed economies.
With federal contractor wages of $17.75 hourly, American workers maintain reasonable protein access, though significant regional variations exist across different states and sectors.
Despite processing over 200,000 tonnes of tuna annually and exporting 90% of their fish catch, Mauritian workers require five times more labor than their British counterparts.
At just $1.28 daily minimum wage, Ghanaian workers must dedicate nearly an entire day's earnings to afford a single tin of processed fish.
Global Affordability Snapshot — minutes to buy ~170g tin
National minimum wage; budget-brand 170–185g supermarket tin.
€12.82/hr minimum wage; discount supermarket tin.
€11.88/hr; standard retail 170g tin.
Provincial minimum wages (Ontario C$17.20); typical grocery price.
€15.88/hr minimum; budget supermarket brand.
Tokyo ¥1,163/hr; convenience-store tin (~160g).
₩10,030/hr; typical retail price for 150g can.
28 PLN/hr minimum wage; basic supermarket option.
500,000 CLP monthly minimum (~3,100/hr); local brand tin.
R27.58/hr national minimum; budget tin.
RM7.21/hr minimum wage (2024); 170g retail tin.
฿400/day (~฿50/hr); basic tinned tuna at convenience store.
Metro Manila ₱645/day (~₱80/hr); local brand 155g tin.
Jakarta Rp5.07 million monthly (~31,000/hr); basic 170g can.
Delhi ₹21,000 monthly (~₹100/hr); retail tuna can (often imported).
Nairobi KES 36,000 monthly (~220/hr); basic tinned fish.
Lagos ₦70,000 monthly (~430/hr); local market tin.
Dhaka ৳16,000 monthly (~100/hr); imported tinned tuna rarely sold.
Karachi PKR 37,000 monthly (~230/hr); imported tin scarce, expensive.
Addis Ababa ETB 6,000 monthly (~40/hr); imported canned fish premium item.
Breaking the Tide: Policy Solutions
Addressing the inequalities revealed by the Tin Tuna Index requires coordinated interventions that challenge the structure of global trade. These disparities are features of the current system, not mere market glitches.
Enforcing labor standards through port-state controls could deter vessels and firms using trafficked or severely underpaid labor. Trade reforms that end tariff escalation would let developing countries capture more value domestically. Resource-sovereignty measures (joint ventures, technology transfer, domestic-market supply obligations) can reduce pure extraction.
Immediate Interventions
Port-state labor inspections, minimum-wage adjustments in processing hubs, emergency food-security programs for urban working households.
Medium-term Reforms
End tariff escalation; strengthen resource-sovereignty protections; regional compacts to reduce import dependence for basic proteins.
Long-term Transformation
Human-welfare-first economic models; community control over marine resources; international cooperation grounded in solidarity.
The Future of Ocean Equity
Trends suggest disparities will worsen without intervention: climate stress, demand growth, and industry consolidation raise prices while wages lag in developing regions.
The global tuna market, valued around $35–45 billion in 2024, is projected near $60.6 billion by 2033—benefiting asset owners more than workers. Tuna aquaculture remains capital- and energy-intensive; conservation policies, if equity-blind, can unintentionally tighten access for small-scale fishers.
Projected global tuna market value by 2033—growth that risks widening affordability gaps without policy correction.
Workers across catching, processing, and distribution—many unable to afford regular consumption of the products they make.
The Tin Tuna Index provides measurement tools for transformation toward more equitable global food systems. What remains is the will.
Charting a New Course
The ocean's harvest should nourish all who depend on it, not only those with economic power. The Tin Tuna Index exposes systematic inequality; change requires collective action.
When workers processing tuna cannot afford tuna, abundance has become engineered scarcity—an economic problem with a moral edge.
Methodology (how the index is computed)
Metric: minutes of legal minimum-wage labor required to purchase one ~170-gram tin of tuna.
Steps: (1) Statutory minimum wage/hour; (2) Cheapest widely available retail price for a ~170g tin; (3) Convert to minutes: (Price / Wage_per_hour) × 60; (4) Use latest available month; (5) If pack size ≠170g, scale proportionally; (6) Flag if price was promotional.
Notes: Regional wage boards or province/state wages are labeled when relevant.