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Haddock Facts

Haddock Facts
Haddock is marine fish that belongs to the cod family. It can be found on the both sides of North Atlantic. Haddock is a bottom-dwelling creature that inhabits gravely, sandy and pebbly sea floor on a depth of 130 to 500 feet. It belongs to the group of commercially important fish (haddock is part of human diet for centuries). High demand for this fish led to uncontrolled fishing of haddock in the previous century and resulted in drastic decline in the population size. Thanks to conservation efforts and strict fishing regulations, haddock population managed to rebound in the past couple of years (but it still remains vulnerable).
Interesting Haddock Facts:
Haddock can reach 1 to 3 feet in length and 2 to 7 pounds of weight.
Haddock has purple grey head and back and silvery-grey lateral sides of the body with prominent black lateral line. Belly is white colored. Haddock can be easily recognized by black blotch (also known as "Devil's thumbprint) above the pectoral fin. Dark blotch can be seen on both sides of the body.
Haddock and cod are similar in appearance. Haddock has smaller mouth, more pointed snout, slimmer body and more concave tail.
Body of haddock is covered with scales and thick layer of mucus.
Haddock is adapted to the life in deep cold waters on a temperature of 2 to 10 degrees of Celsius.
Haddock is a carnivore (meat-eater). Its diet consists of various mollusks, sea stars, sea urchins, worms and fish eggs.
Haddock swims in large schools (groups).
Haddock can be described as "sprinter". It can swim very fast when it needs to escape from the predators, but only short distances.
Natural enemies of haddock are spiny dogfish, skate, cod, monkfish, halibut, sea raven and seals.
Haddock migrates seasonally from the wintering to the breeding grounds. Young fish have longer migratory routes compared to adults.
Mating season of haddock takes place in the shallow water during the spring. Spawning lasts from January to June and reaches the peak from March to April.
Females can produce from 850.000 to 3 million eggs per season (older females produce more eggs). Fertilization of eggs takes place in the water, where they merge with sperm cells released by males.
Fertilized eggs float in the water (carried by the ocean current) until they hatch. Newly hatched larvae spend first few months of their life near the surface of the water. After that period, they moves to the bottom of the ocean where they will spend the rest of their lives.
Young haddock inhabit shallow waters near the coast until they become large enough to survive in deeper waters. Haddock reach sexual maturity at the age of 1 and 4 years.
Haddock can survive more than 10 years in the wild.


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