In what appears to be a clash of Hawaiian and western cultures, some Molokai residents are upset that boaters who come to the island as escorts for canoe and other races are catching fish and taking other seafood from coastal waters.

Native Hawaiian resident Walter Ritte said some Molokai families practice traditional subsistence living and rely upon the seafood to feed themselves.

"How can you manage when you have a 100-boat onslaught?" he said. "You cannot manage. They picking opihi. They doing crabbing, all kinds of stuff."

Ritte said the number of Molokai-Oahu and Molokai-Maui races have increased over the years, with each race often requiring 80 to more than 100 boats, and fishing, diving and netting has occurred from Kaunanakai throughout the western coastline.

He said the Molokai coastal resources are fragile and the continued taking of seafood is threatening the sustainability of ocean resources.

Ritte said the continued taking of seafood is frustrating residents who practice conservation, including seasonal harvesting of opihi.

"On this island, the majority of the people are Hawaiian. From a Hawaiian point of view, you just don’t go into somebody’s house and take," he said.

He said racing groups have asked participants to refrain from taking seafood from Molokai but the requests have gone unheeded by many boaters.

In the latest Molokai-Oahu race involving Na Wahine O Kekai, nine boats were seen fishing in a two-hour span of patrolling by Molokai residents, according to Ritte.

Ritte said one of the patrolling residents was threatened by a boater and that a police report was filed about the incident.

Ritte said he’d like to see race organizations impose sanctions on canoe participants whose escort boats ignore the advisories and catch seafood along the Molokai coastline.

Na Wahine O Kekai race director Hannie Anderson said the canoe clubs try to comply with the requests and will look into the complaints about boaters who allegedly were fishing.

"I understand where Walter is coming from," Anderson said. "I do want to work with the people of Molokai … We have been doing our best."

Anderson said her organization could put sanctions in their rules against fishing along the Molokai coastline during races and might consider adopting penalties in the future.

State aquatic resources official Russell Sparks said while the public can fish in coastal waters provided they follow state conservation rules, groups sponsoring ocean events can impose their own rules and sanctions.

Anderson said her group has been holding the annual event for 33 years but other ocean-crossing events have increased on Molokai, including a recent standup paddle competition about two weeks ago that had close to 160 escort boats.

But she said they also bring more visitors to Molokai and she knows many businesses are happy with the rise in tourism.

Luana Froiseth, whose nonprofit group is organizing the 59th Molokai Hoe race on Oct. 8, said race officials are asking boaters and canoe paddlers to refrain from fishing and taking seafood from Molokai coastal waters.

"We’re sending out fliers. We’re trying to get the information to everybody," said Froiseth, president of the Oahu Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association.

"We don’t want to lose the friendship of the island."