The fucoidan from Laminaria relicollected at Wando in Korea was purified with the yield of 2.3% in mass. The monosaccharide composiof the purified fucoidan was nearly identical to that of the commercial standard: fucose 63.71 %, xylose 22.98%, galactose 6.62%, mannose 0.24%, and uronic acid 3.26%. Microorganisms capable of degrading the purified fucoidan were isolated from the colonies on the minimal medium containing 0.2% of purified fucoidan as a sole carbon source. Of these isolates, a strain showing a relatively higher capability to degrade fucoidan, up to 63%, was partially characterized as a Gram positive, aerobic, moderately halophilic marine bacterium.