To do your diners a favor, take a few minutes to remove the pin bones from fish prior to cooking. This is particularly important if the fish is to be chopped up, as you would for fish cakes or a seafood mousse, as those few pin bones then become hundreds of tiny, unappetizing bits.

For many fish species, pin bones are in only the forward 2/3 or so of the fish, so tail-end fillet portions may not have any pin bones.

To remove the pin bones from a fillet, run your fingers gently along the flesh from the broader head end toward the tail end. You should feel the tips of the bones lift up a bit in the flesh. Using small (and clean!) needlenose pliers, large tweezers or another such clean pinching tool, grab the tip of each pin bone and gently pull to remove.

Some fish, thankfully, have a bone structure that doesn't include pin bones, swordfish, tuna and shark among them.