ASHINGTON - What was supposed to have been a triumphant Boston campaign stop for Al Gore has become a political embarrassment for the vice president, who angered a number of New England fishermen and surprised the Massachusetts congressional delegation with his announcement last Thursday of $5 million in emergency aid.
Gore's announcement at the New England Aquarium has spurred resentment among many fishermen who mistakenly thought Gore was offering new funding. It also rankled the members of Congress who secured the money last year, but were never informed of Gore's plans to announce the aid package a second time and were ''completely taken aback'' when he did, a Senate aide who requested anonymity said yesterday.
Senator John F. Kerry ''really got the rug pulled out beneath him'' after procuring the aid from the Senate Appropriations Committee last year, said Paul Cohane, head of the Gulf of Maine Fishermen's Association.
Last weekend, after the event, Gore called Kerry to apologize.
''It really just stinks of cheap, election-year politics,'' Cohane said. ''Mr. Gore had very little to do with this, and yet he came and took all the glory. He stole the limelight.''
Kerry declined to comment about the matter. His spokesman, David Wade, said only that Kerry ''really appreciates the vice president drawing national attention to a pressing regional problem that has long been a top priority to New Englanders.''
It is routine for politicians to associate themselves with as many popular projects as they can, sometimes claiming credit for victories they did not achieve alone. But Gore's announcement seemed inappropriate in the eyes of both Republican and Democratic staff members of the Massachusetts delegation and some fishermen who said Gore has not shown an interest in the New England fisheries before.
Gore spokesman Chris Lehane said yesterday that the vice president was ''extremely pleased to be able to announce, on behalf of the administration, emergency relief for the family fishermen of New England.''
Lehane did not address the disgruntled remarks of the fishermen or congressional staff. But he did say, ''This package came about because of the joint efforts of the administration and the fishermen of New England and the members of the Massachusetts delegation ... And in particular, Senator Kerry worked extremely hard on this issue.''
But that acknowledgment was too late for some fishermen, who were irked at what they perceived as a self-serving announcement. They also complained that the money, which was announced in October, has yet to materialize, said Stephen Ouellette, an attorney for the Gulf of Maine Fishermen's Association.
''Some fishermen were pretty frosted that Gore announced this money last week, almost making it sound like it was something completely new, when it's not,'' Oullette said. ''I don't think the fishermen care who gets credit for it. But they are concerned because they certainly need assistance. And most of their problems stem not from any shortage of fish but from this administration's policies.''
Ann-Margaret Ferrante, executive director of the Massachusetts Fisheries Recovery Commission, concurred. ''Some of the fishermen were confused as to whether or not this was new money, or whether this was the previous $5 million,'' she said.
''No explanation was given,'' she added. ''Gore just announced there was this $5 million for fishermen.''
The $5 million in emergency aid was made public last year on Oct. 15, when Kerry sent out a news release announcing his success in getting the money included in the budget for the fiscal year that began that month. The program will provide some fishermen up to $1,500 for each day their fishing grounds in the Gulf of Maine were closed by regulators last spring.
According to Senate staff members familiar with the events leading up to the October announcement, Kerry had lobbied Senator Ted Stevens, an Alaska Republican and chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and Senator Judd Gregg, a New Hampshire Republican also on the committee, for the funds.
After the money was secured, Kerry sent Massachusetts fishermen copies of a letter dated Oct. 9 that he had written to Stevens. Ferrante, who received a copy of the letter, remembered Kerry's efforts when Gore arrived in Boston last week.
''It was nice to hear Gore's concern for fishing families, because we had been hoping he and the administration would get behind us during these trying times,'' she said. ''But Kerry and Kennedy and the delegation, they've worked closely with us and worked hard on our behalf.''
Robert MacKinnon, a fisherman in Scituate for over 23 years, said, ''It was Kerry and Kennedy that got that money. Of course, Gore just picked up on it.''
MacKinnon added that Gore's ''entourage that day was all environmentalists. We couldn't even have a conversation with him. We couldn't ask questions. If Gore is elected president, we'll all be eating hay.''
According to several Senate aides, Gore staff members did not alert the state's congressional delegation that he would feature the $5 million package in Boston.
News of the announcement first appeared in The Globe the morning of Gore's speech. By afternoon, aides to House and Senate members had made angry phone calls to Gore's office, said Gore and Senate aides. When Gore gave his speech, he mentioned Kerry and Kennedy twice, one of his aides said.
One Republican Senate aide from New England said he was amused when he learned the day before Gore's announcement that the vice president planned to mention the emergency aid.
''This is an old, old issue, and Gore has had nothing to do with this,'' said the aide, who specializes in fishing issues. ''If anything, the administration should be criticized for taking so darned long to get the money out.''
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