• ABOUT US

A-Culture Holding Pty Ltd (‘A-Culture’) was established specifically to address an environmental negative, Riverland saline water, and turn it into a positive, by producing premium seafood products in a clean and green environment. Something that is under increasing demand globally.

Our environmentally sustainable Waikerie Aquaculture Project has the capacity to change the face of aquaculture in Australia. It will establish a unique multi species intensive indoor recirculating aquaculture system (OZRAS) facility in the Riverland of South Australia. The facility will make use of saline water from the vast local underground aquifer, helping to address the environmental damage that can occur when saline water is allowed to enter the Murray -Darling Basin.

A-Culture is creating an intensive indoor facility to produce consistently high quality seafood and deliver it fresh to local, national and international markets.

Using saline ground water also means fish can be produced in a pristine bio secure environment that is not susceptible to temperature and weather fluctuations. This will allow A-Culture to deliver high quality seafood all year round.

The project has the support of the District Council of Loxton Waikerie and Regional Development Australia. The South Australian Government also considers the project a much needed economic opportunity for the Riverland region, exploiting what is essentially a waste water resource. The next stage in the project is to build a prototype production facility on our site at Waikerie, to trial OZRAS efficiency’s which will involve growing Yellowtail Kingfish and Asparagopsis seaweed for CH4 Global.

  • Experienced Team

    A-Culture is an experienced team of business leaders.

  • Partners and Suppliers

    We have high quality business partners and suppliers.

  • THE OZRAS SYSTEM

    A purpose designed system for filtering and recirculating water.

  • Environmental Focus

    Multiple environmental benefits will be realised.

  • Location Secured

    A 50-hectare greenfield site near the Riverland town of Waikerie.

Meet Our Executive Team

John Henderson

John Henderson – CEO

John Henderson is the Managing Director of A-Culture Pty Ltd and an Adelaide based construction company. John possesses extensive experience within the building and engineering industry with over 30 years building and managing successful construction services businesses across South Australia.

John’s expertise in this arena will be leveraged in the development and construction of the flagship site to ensure timely and efficient delivery of the facility in line with the business’s long-term strategic goals. John has dedicated the last four years to the study of recirculating aquaculture systems currently used around the world.

These studies have focused on methods to adapt and improve on current practices specifically focusing on higher efficiency to support lower operating costs and an increased rate of return compared to existing facilities. The result is the new OZRAS system. Upon the establishment of the flagship facility John intends to resign from directorship of his building company to focus solely on the operation and long-term strategic growth of the aquaculture business.

John Carragher

John Carragher – Chief Scientist

Following a degree in Marine Biology and a PhD in Fish Physiology, John’s career started along the academic pathway, with research and teaching appointments at Brunel (UK), Auckland (NZ), Deakin (Vic) and Flinders Universities – the latter two positions related to aquaculture. Much of John’s academic research was determining how stressors affected growth, reproduction and product quality of farmed and wild caught seafood products and he has over 40 publications in this area.

However, over time John has become more interested in applied research, holding positions with AgResearch (NZ) and SARDI and now operates as a consultant to the seafood industry stakeholders. John now helps seafood producers and processors by delivering approaches, processes and technologies to improve the production and marketability of quality seafood products locally, nationally and internationally.

Projects have included: assessing the quality attributes of Port Lincoln farmed tuna in the famed Tokyo fish market; determining the shelf-life of yellowtail kingfish and using modified atmosphere packaging technology to prolong the shelf-life of live pipis and farmed greenlip abalone, permitting diversification of markets and increasing the value of the product.

Bryn Lyon

Bryn Lyon – Farm Manager

Bryn has been involved in the aquaculture industry for the past 19 years. After graduating from Challenger University of Technology with a Diploma of Aquaculture, he has worked continuously with Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS) in Australia and overseas, growing both finfish and eels.

During that time he has worked as production manager, maintenance manager and farm manager of a
number of farms. Consequently he has developed significant experience in general management, fish handling in recirculating systems, record keeping, monitoring growth rates, production fish health and water quality parameters. Bryn has also been involved in the construction of RAS facilities. These include, in Australia a state of the art 200 tonne per annum RAS for the production of Murray Cod.

In Madagascar he was involved in the construction and management of a 400 tonne per annum facility producing African Eel for export to Europe and Asia. There he trained and managed a team of local people in production techniques and the operation of the RAS system. As well as the aforementioned experience Bryn has also had extensive experience in the maintenance and operation of filtration, pumping and oxygen generation equipment – all of which is fundamental to the maintenance of water quality in a RAS facility.

Gerard Dell’Oste – CFO

Gerard Dell’Oste is a highly experienced finance professional who has worked in the commercial and not-for-profit sectors for over 30 years. He has been a Chief Financial Officer for over 20 years, a company secretary for over 10 years and has served as a Director and Chair of a not-for-profit organisation.

His recent roles were Executive Director of Corporate Services of Roads Australia and Executive Director of Shared Services at the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman. He is a Fellow of CPA Australia and Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Tanya Yi – Marketing Director

Tanya Yi has held a number of senior leadership marketing roles in corporate FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) and SME businesses. Over her 20 year career, Tanya has worked and lived in Asia (Singapore, Hong Kong and China) launching and building Australian brands such as Penfolds, Pepperjack, Farmers Union, Bulla and many more. Her passion is taking Australian brands to Asian consumers. Tanya is a member of Marketing Women Inc. and NAWO (National Association of Women in Operations).

Lyndal Byford

Lyndal is currently Director of News and Partnerships at the Australian Science Media Centre. She has an Honours Degree in biotechnology from Flinders University and a Graduate Diploma in Science Communication from the Australian National University. She has experience communicating science in a range of settings including at museums, within the pharmaceutical industry and in media relations both here and in the UK.

Lyndal is a frequent commentator on science media relations and has regular science segments on ABC Sydney, ABC Darwin and ABC Radio National. She has written for publications including Crikey, ABC, Cosmos and News Corp Australia. Lyndal was a member of Inspiring Australia’s Science and the Media Expert Working Group for the Federal Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research. Lyndal was awarded the 2023 Unsung Hero of Science Communication award from the Australian Science Communicators.

Contact Us
Message Us

Our Location