Transferring live fish by pipeline has been used in the fishing industry for a long time - large trawlers will store fish in salt water in tanks and when they get into port they are transferred by pipeline directly from the trawler to the fish processing plant so they are still alive when they hit the table where they are "processed".
[NB A fisherman explained this to me in Mallaig Scotland, none of the fishing boats I've been on were so high tech!]
I wonder if the tech is any different. If the fish are going to be slaughtered shortly, then it wouldn't matter (ethics aside) if they're a little hurt in the process, provided the meat isn't damaged, whereas here it is quite important that the fish remain unharmed.
[NB A fisherman explained this to me in Mallaig Scotland, none of the fishing boats I've been on were so high tech!]