Fishing.
As, next to rice, fish formed an important part of the diet of the Filipinos, we find them engaged in the fishing industry at the time of discovery and conquest. Magellan and his party saw many fishing boats near the coasts of the islands passed by them. “All the shores of this bay (Manila) are well provided with abundant fisheries, of all kinds.”[15] The other islands were described to have many large fisheries also.[16] The inland waters, too, furnished the inhabitants with abundant fish supply.
Most of the devices used today for catching fish were known then to the ancient Filipinos. “The natives’ method of catching them is by making corrals of bejucos. They catch the fish inside these corrals, having made the enclosures fast by means of stakes. They also catch the fish in wicker baskets made from the bejucos, but most generally with atarrayas (a species of fishing net), esparaveles (a round fishing net, which is jerked along by the fisher through rivers and shallow places), other small barrederas (a net of which the meshes are closer and tighter than those of common nets, so that the smallest fish may not escape it), and with hand lines and hooks.”[17] The salambao was also used.[18]
Fishing for pearl oysters and other precious products of the sea was also a developed industry at the time of discovery and conquest. These products were exported to other countries.[19]