The Bottlenecks to Survival Project: An open-source framework for end-to-end biological data management

BCSRIF Project Summary

Species Group: Chinook, coho, steelhead
Location: Vancouver Island
Partners: : BCCF, Cowichan Tribes, Snuneymuxw First Nation, A-Tlegay Fisheries Society, K’ómoks First Nation, Nanoose First Nation, UVic, DFO, BC Ministry of WLRS
Organization: Pacific Salmon Foundation
Session(s): Data And Modelling To Support Decision Making
Presentation Date(s): December 09, 2025
Speakers: Sam James, Brahm White-Gluz
Abstract:
Using modern software engineering practices and open-source software, we have developed a robust information system for managing the research data collected by the Bottlenecks to Survival Project, a large-scale PIT tagging initiative led by the Pacific Salmon Foundation and British Columbia Conservation Foundation. Any end-to-end data system must cover the full lifecycle of the data from collection to storage and dissemination. Though state-of-the-art, open-source database technologies, we have created such a system that brings in data using the Open Data Kit, processes and stores the data using Postgres, with data consumed through dashboards and visualization on Apache Superset. This design and implementation of the data system addresses many key issues surrounding data management for large, multi-year research projects and will support reproducible research and a high level of data integrity moving forward.