This is a descriptive definition.
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Fish starving is a practice used before the transport to reduce metabolic rate, stress response, oxygen consumption and production of discard products. Starving can be also a natural behaviour in fish according to the water temperature, the age, the species and the season (Einen et al., 1998).
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3730663/

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Note added at 2 hrs (2016-11-25 12:46:58 GMT)
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Conditioning for transport: Starvation
Starving fish prior to live fish transport
has been a traditional technique used
for improving the survival of fish during
transport. Starvation for a short period
when fish could not find suitbale food
is common in nature. Prior to packing,
fish are starved to empty their stomachs
and intestines in order to prevent
regurgitation of partially digested food
material during transport.
http://www.vliz.be/imisdocs/publications/261193.pdf
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During conditioning, oxygen content of the water and its temperature should be properly maintained to supply the required oxygen for the starving fish.
https://books.google.com/books?id=YeLLBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA344&lpg=...
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