haaf

Noun

haaf

1. (Scotland, Shetland) the open sea, especially as a place to fish
   • The banks to which they repair for the haaf fishing, are often many miles distant from the station where the fish is dried; so that they are always twenty or thirty hours absent, frequently longer; and under unfavourable circumstances of wind and tide, they remain at sea, with a very small stock of...1822, [Walter Scott], The Pirate. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC
   • The haaf-boat was as well maintained as any vessel in the islands; her master had a reputation for thoroughness, for all he was barely twenty years of age.2003, Juliet Marillier, Foxmask (Saga of the Light Isles; 2), page 28
2. (Shetland) the practice of sea fishing for such as cod, ling and tusk
   • Although men concentrated at the main haaf stations during the summer fishing season, they reverted to their homes in crofting townships for the remainder of the year.2005, James Coull, “7: The development of fishing communities with special reference to Scotland”, in Jonathan Potts, Hance D. Smith, editors, Managing Britain's Marine and Coastal Environment...