TORONTO, Canada — Thousands of baby seals were spared from Canada’s annual cull yesterday after foul weather left scores of small hunting boats trapped in thick ice off the country’s Atlantic coast.

Several of the boats were threatened with damage or sinking and five crews had to abandon their vessels in conditions fishermen described as the worst for more than 20 years.

As many as 500 men were stranded off the coast of Newfoundland province, only a few hundred miles north of where the Titanic was struck by ice in 1912.

The boats ran into difficulties when winds pushed ice floes toward land, hemming in some of the boats and threatening to crack their hulls open.

Many of the seal hunters have been trapped for as long as 10 days and some of the boats were reportedly running out of fuel and food.

Gill Cadwell, one of the hunters, told CBC network that the ice floes had pushed his boat, the Southern Pride, high out of the water. He added: “I have never, ever experienced anything like this.”

Captain Brian Pennie, the superintendent of Coast Guard operations, said: “There are vessels disabled and there are vessels damaged.

“There are crews that are out on the ice because there’s quite a possibility that their vessels may sink.”

Helicopters have lifted at least 20 men to safety. “We will fly supplies out as needed — water, fuel and food,” said Captain Pennie.

He added that the ice, between three and 10 feet thick, was so heavy that two Canadian Coast Guard icebreakers were also trapped.

Forecasters said the weather conditions would continue until the end of the week and could deteriorate further.

The hunt, described by opponents as cruel and unnecessary, is in its third and largest stage.

A spokesman for the federal Fisheries and Oceans Department said about two-thirds of this year’s quota of 270,000 baby harp seals had already been filled.