About us

The Farm and us

AquaVerde Redclaw Hatchery & Farm is a family run farm on a total of 10 hectares just outside the picturesque town of Atherton on the Atherton Tablelands Far North Queensland, Australia (an hour inland from Cairns) click here for map

We get our name from the fact that a good crayfish farmer encourages the natural ecology of the pond to develop a plankton bloom which provides much of the nutrition for the crayfish. This bloom gives the water that characteristic “green water” look, hence our name “AquaVerde”.

We produce redclaw for the restaurant trade in our earthen ponds filled with the finest Atherton Tableland water from our natural spring. However, we specialise in broodstock development, egg production and crayling production.

Hatchery and Farm Manager

Colin Valverde, an ex-computer geek who went on to study aquaculture at Deakin University, decided that it’s better to live and work on a farm than in an office and started AquaVerde with his wife Ursula in 2004.

Office Manager

Ursula Valverde-Neff is originally from Switzerland, has a background in social work as well as business administration and bookkeeping.  She also works on the farm and is heavily involved in the hatchery, preparing eggs for sale.

Interested in redclaw farming?

The demand for redclaw is becoming insatiable and retail prices are great. Our industry’s ability to supply is lagging far behind and we not only need more growers, but we also need to increase production on existing farms!
We encourage interest in redclaw farming and are happy to show genuinely interested people around our farm by prior arrangement.  For a 2-hour “show and tell” we charge a fee of 100 dollars.