Skinning gutted plaice, English fish (7)
I believe the answer is:
peeling
'skinning' is the definition.
('peel' can be a synonym of 'skin')
'gutted plaice english fish' is the wordplay.
'gutted' means to remove the middle letters (to gut something is to remove its insides).
'english' becomes 'e' (abbreviation).
'fish' becomes 'ling' (ling is a kind of fish**).
'plaice' with its middle taken out is 'pe'.
'pe'+'e'+'ling'='PEELING'
(Other definitions for peeling that I've seen before include "Skinning" , "Removing skin" , "Shedding skin" , "Removing the rind" .)