accompanied by a large group of indios, father josé created in the lagoa de araçatiba an artificial fishing zone so important to maricá that a statue in his honor was put at the lake - according to historians, father josé was said to predict to the indios what kind of fish would be caught in the lake, creating the myth of a miraculous fishing.

such was the abundance of fish, and so difficult were the logistics to quickly export the fish, that the local fishermen developed a way of salting and conserving the produce for export that continues into present day - in the 18th century, maricá was also important to the regions' economy for the production of sugar cane.

while not much history from the period has been recorded or preserved, it is common knowledge that the african slaves were great contributors not only to the sugar cane plantations, but to the construction of important parts of the town as well.