Images by Area
Kenai River and Tributaries

Last modified on Jan 23, 2019

The Kenai River has two distinct runs, early and late, each with its own spawner escapement goals (Fleischman and Reimer 2017). The early run enters the river from late April to early July and spawn in the tributaries of the Kenai River and the late run enter freshwater from mid-June through mid-August (Burger et al. 1985).

Kenai River Chinook salmon are large for their age and older relative to 108 Chinook salmon populations in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska (Roni and Quinn 1995). Large size at age means fast growth per year, and this is apparent on the scales of Kenai River Chinook salmon.

Here are images of scales sampled from CWT-matched Kenai River Chinook salmon, early and late runs:

• Early-run
• Late-run

References

Burger, C. V., R. L. Wilmot, and D. B. Wangaard. 1985. Comparison of spawning areas and times for two runs of chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in the Kenai River, Alaska. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 42(4):693-700.

Fleischman, S. J., and A. M. Reimer. 2017. Spawner–recruit analyses and escapement goal recommendations for Kenai River Chinook salmon. Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Fishery Manuscript Series No. 17-02, Anchorage. http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/FedAidPDFs/FMS17-02.pdf (PDF)

Roni, P., and T. P. Quinn. 1995. Geographic variation in size and age of North American Chinook salmon. North American Journal of Fisheries Management 15(2):325-345.