Before sealing, a transparent hose was inserted into the bags
through which 60 mL water samples were collected every 2 h to
monitor the water quality during transport. The water quality parameters
(temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen and pH) were monitored
every 2 h using amulti-parameter YSI 556 (YellowSprings Instruments,
Yellow Springs, OH, USA). Total ammonia and alkalinity were also
monitored every 2 h according to the methods of UNESCO (1983) and
Baumgarten et al. (1996), respectively.