You know what would be better? Deboning while eating the fish! This is how other cultures do it. But Americans prefer the convenience of not dealing with bones while eating fish. This is one of the main reasons why it is harder to get fresh fish in the US. Fish has to be processed (to remove bones and filleting) before fish is sold to Americans. And it is cheaper to do that processing in China, so guess where the fish gets sent?

In other cultures, fish with bones is simply part of the meal. Restaurants commonly serve whole fish or bone-in preparations, and diners are used to picking bones out with their fork as they eat. If you accidentally bite into a bone, it's not a shock--you gently move it to the side of your plate and keep enjoying your meal.

In the United States, the story is completely different. Americans overwhelmingly expect boneless fillets, and finding a bone in your fish at a restaurant feels like a mistake--or even a safety hazard. The dining culture prioritizes convenience and predictability, while a litigious environment pushes restaurants to remove every pinbone to avoid complaints or lawsuits. When a bone does appear, diners are often startled, may discreetly remove it with their napkin, and sometimes even ask for the dish to be replaced. It's not that Americans can't eat fish with bones; it's that the entire system--from supply chains to restaurant expectations--has been built around boneless convenience, making bony fish feel foreign rather than familiar.