Halophiles are extremophiles that survive in environments with very high concentrations of salt. They transcend all domains of life namely archaea, eubacteria and eukaryotes. They are a good source of bioproducts, enzymes, heat shock proteins and antibodies which are well adapted to extreme conditions. A moderate halophilic bacterium Pseudoalteromonas piscicida strain JCR18 was isolated from off the Marina coast, Chennai and was characterized by 16S rRNA gene amplification for further studies on its proteolytic activity.