Previous advisories applied only to the Chesapeake Bay, lakes and rivers because there wasn't sufficient information about coastal areas, he said.
Data sharing with other states led to the Atlantic's inclusion.
He said officials have found less contamination in fish caught in the bay - spawning ground for at least three quarters of all East Coast striped bass - than fish caught near New York and New Jersey, for example.
Because striped bass are highly migratory, there are fish with higher and lower levels of PCBs in the bay, but the average is still lower than Atlantic fish. The average would be lower for fish served in restaurants, as well, because they come from farms, the bay and the ocean.
Upon learning of the new advisory for the Atlantic fish, one veteran Ocean City charter boat captain was dismissive.
"Commercial fisherman are scooping up bluefish and they're still being bought and sold in markets. So, what are you going to do?" said Steve Peterson, who fishes three miles off the coast.
"They can print all they want about it, and I'm still going to eat them. It's a media thing. One day it's swine flu and then the next day it's something else."
Staff writers Frederick N. Rasmussen and Candus Thomson contributed to this article.
