A highly fecund species, haddock live most of their life in deep waters between 130 and 1,000 feet (40 and 300 m). A female’s production of eggs increases substantially with age, from a few hundred thousand in the youngest spawners to three million in the oldest. Once spawning occurs, the eggs are pelagic – living on the surface of the ocean. Larvae generally float freely for around three months before descending to the bottom to live with the rest of their kind. Spawning occurs between January and June, peaking during late March and early April. The average lifespan for haddock lies somewhere between three and seven years of age, with males generally reaching maturity at four years and females at five. Haddock feed mainly on shellfish, sea urchins, worms, and small fish like sand eels and capelin. In Canada, the most important haddock stocks live from the Bay of Fundy to Cape Breton and the Grand Banks.