Gloucester city officials, caught unaware of the city’s expected role in distributing federal fishery disaster funds to eligible local shore-side businesses, were scrambling Tuesday to determine exactly what the city must do to help get funds to affected businesses along the city’s waterfront.

“We had no idea about this,” Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken said Tuesday. “Right now, we have nothing in place and nothing planned. But I will make sure we have a plan.”

Romeo Theken said she will call state Division of Marine Fisheries Director Paul Diodati for guidance on the city’s role in applying for and doling out its portion of the $750,000 in shore-side business assistance. Those funds are contained within the approximately $8.3 million Massachusetts is receiving in the second phase of the federal fishery disaster relief.

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