Near a very quiet fish (8)
I believe the answer is:
approach
'near' is the definition.
('approach' can be a synonym of 'near')
'a very quiet fish' is the wordplay.
'very quiet' becomes 'pp'.
'fish' becomes 'roach' (roach is a kind of fish).
'a'+'pp'+'roach'='APPROACH'
(Other definitions for approach that I've seen before include "driveway" , "attitude" , "Come towards" , "Come close" , "Come near - means of access" .)