Mrs Lukina Lukin
Mrs Lukina Lukin is the Owner and Managing Director of Dinko Seafood in South Australia. When Dinko Lukin passed away in 2011, his wife Lukina stepped up to continue his legacy as the owner and managing director of Dinko Seafood – a Port Lincoln tuna and seafood farming company founded in 1966.
Mrs Lukin was met with resistance when first entrusted with the company, due to her initial lack of expertise in tuna farming. Despite this, and adopting a business that was $32 million in debt, Dinko Seafood is now a flourishing industry leader.
Mrs Lukin inherited her work ethic from the incredibly strong women who raised her on her family’s rice fields in Thailand. Her background gave her the nous to continue the Dinko Seafood legacy and the toughness to sustain the pressures of the industry. When she took over the business, her first priority was to reduce the business debt and repair the failing refrigeration system.
She pioneered new technology, freezing tuna down to -60C with cryogenic liquid nitrogen. Lukina is known as Australia’s ‘first female tuna boss’, who continues to explore ways to innovate, be more sustainable, and break barriers within a male-dominated industry.
She has over 22 years of experience in the seafood and tuna industry and is the Director of the Australian Southern Blue Fin Tuna Industry Association (ASBTIA). She is also a management committee member of The Spencer Gulf and West Coast Fishermen's Association and Graduate of the Australian Rural Leadership Program in 2022.