Cryptic crossword clue
Preparing fish, empty sac during handling 9

The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 letter word DESCALING

I've seen this crossword clue in The Daily Telegraph
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Buddy explains!

The straight part
We know that "Preparing fish" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case preparing fish = descaling.
The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.
This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.

What does DESCALING mean?

DESCALING verb
  1. To remove scale from the surface of a metal, especially from the inner surfaces of boilers etc.
  2. To remove the scales from a fish etc.
DESCALING noun
  1. The removal of scale from the surface of a metal, especially from the inner surfaces of boilers etc.

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