A corf (pl. corves) also spelt corve (pl. corves) is a container of wood, net,

chicken wire Chicken wire, or poultry netting, is a mesh of wire commonly used to fence in fowl, such as chickens, in a run or coop. It is made of thin, flexible, galvanized steel wire with hexagonal gaps. Available in 1 inch (about 2.5 cm) dia ...

, metal or plastic used to contain live

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% ...

, eels or

crustacean Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean gro ...

s (such as

crayfish Crayfish are freshwater crustaceans belonging to the clade Astacidea, which also contains lobsters. In some locations, they are also known as crawfish, craydids, crawdaddies, crawdads, freshwater lobsters, mountain lobsters, rock lobsters, ...

) underwater, at docks or in fishing boats.

Origin of term

1350–1400; Middle English from Dutch and German ''Korb'', ultimately borrowed from Latin ''corbis'' basket; cf. ''corbeil''

History

Corves were originally crucial to keep captured fish fresh until the boat with the catch reached its harbor. A corf could be towed behind the boat while fishermen made the journey from the fishing grounds to the

fish market A fish market is a marketplace for selling fish and fish products. It can be dedicated to wholesale trade between fishermen and fish merchants, or to the sale of seafood to individual consumers, or to both. Retail fish markets, a type of wet m ...

. These journeys could last up to half a day. When used for storing eels in

Blekinge Blekinge (, old da, Bleking) is one of the traditional Swedish provinces (), situated in the southern coast of the geographic region of Götaland, in southern Sweden. It borders Småland, Scania and the Baltic Sea. It is the country's second- ...

, Sweden, the corves could be as large as and contain about of eels. They would be anchored approximately from land in an area where the water circulation was good to keep the eels alive. Smaller corves were often used in fishing boats to keep live bait for

longline fishing Longline fishing, or longlining, is a commercial fishing angling technique that uses a long ''main line'' with fish bait, baited fish hook, hooks attached at intervals via short branch lines called ''snoods'' or ''gangions''.< ...

. The corf could also be built into the boat, and sometimes be a significant part of it. Fishing boats with a well amidships where water is circulated through small holes in the hull are known as

well smack A well smack was a type of traditional fishing boat in use in the United Kingdom and then the Faroe Islands between the late 18th century and around 1920. It had a well amidships. The well was filled with circulated external water, which ke ...

s. In present days corves used for this purpose have commonly been replaced by

refrigeration The term refrigeration refers to the process of removing heat from an enclosed space or substance for the purpose of lowering the temperature.International Dictionary of Refrigeration, http://dictionary.iifiir.org/search.phpASHRAE Terminology, ht ...

and freezing.

Building

A corf-house is a small building or shed constructed for commercial curing of fish, mostly

salmon Salmon () is the common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of ...

, in. It is also used to store nets and fishing equipment in. One such house is the listed By Lovat Bridge Corf House in

Beauly Beauly ( ; ; gd, A' Mhanachainn) is a village in the Highland area, on the River Beauly, west of Inverness by the Far North railway line. The town is historically within Kilmorack Parish of the Scottish County of Inverness. The land around ...

, Scotland.

Modern use

Corves are mainly used by

recreational fishermen Recreational fishing, also called sport fishing or game fishing, is fishing for leisure, exercise or competition. It can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is professional fishing for profit; or subsistence fishing, which is fishing fo ...

and mass-produced in plastic netting or metal. Their use is regulated through laws and regulations in some countries such as Sweden, and Australia. Modern

fishing boats A fishing vessel is a boat or ship used to catch fish in the sea, or on a lake or river. Many different kinds of vessels are used in commercial, artisanal and recreational fishing. The total number of fishing vessels in the world in 2016 w ...

often have integral corves. These are built into the boat and the water in them kept fresh and oxygenated through a circulatory system with water and air pumps. This kind of corf is called a

livewell A livewell is a water tank found on many fishing boats that is used to keep bait and caught fish alive. It works by pumping fresh water from the surrounding body into the tank, as well as keeping the water aerated. A rule of thumb for determini ...

References

External links