BANGOR (AP) – Many Maine lobstermen routinely keep track of how many lobsters they catch and where they catch them. Now, hundreds of lobstermen will have to share that information with the state – and some aren’t happy.

About 850 lobstermen, representing 10 percent of those licensed in Maine, will have to turn in logbook reports of how many times they went out on the water, how many traps they set or hauled each time, and how many lobsters they caught.

The purpose of the reports is to give Department of Marine Resources officials and scientists a better idea of how many traps are being used and how long they are in the water.

Some lobstermen have kept this kind of information for years, but have kept it to themselves, protecting the numbers as other businesses protect trade secrets. Having to submit the numbers to the government isn’t going over well with some fishermen.

“I’m opposed to the whole thing,” said Clive Farrin, president of the Down East Lobstermen’s Association.

Farrin, of Boothbay Harbor, said the requirement will result in more paperwork and confusion among licensed lobstermen who pay each other with some of their catch, as he does with his sternman.

The president of the Maine Lobsterman’s Association, Dave Cousens of South Thomaston, said that if he had been picked he wouldn’t have minded.

“We need good data to make good decisions,” said Cousens. “You need to be accountable for what you do. I know what I spend on stuff, but most don’t have a clue.”

Another lobsterman who’s taking the new reporting in stride, Mathew Thomson, said it requires less paperwork that the federal government’s groundfish reporting rule.

Thomson is one of about a dozen lobstermen on Monhegan Island who have been documenting their catch for the state under separate rules applying to the local lobster fishing zone.

“It ain’t horrible. It’s not like the end of the world,” Thomson said.

State Marine Resources scientist Heidi Bray said lobstermen selected for the new reporting were notified last month.

“A handful of people have been very angry. A lot of fishermen are resigned to the fact,” said Bray.

The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission wanted all lobstermen to file reports, but Maine Marine Resources Commissioner George Lapointe persuaded the multistate agency to lower the requirement to 10 percent.

Maine accounts for about 80 percent of the nation’s lobster landings. In 2005, the catch was more than 67 million pounds valued at $311 million.