Alaska Fisheries Sonar

Kasilof River
Overview

Kasilof River Sonar Site

The Kasilof River is a short river at the base of an impressively large sockeye spawning lake. Learn about how the lake influences the river's water quality and more about where the sonar site is located and the conditions under which it operates.

If Alaska Department of Fish and Game sonar project leaders could modify rivers, more Alaska rivers might look an awful lot like the Kasilof River. Conditions for operating sonar in the Kasilof River are nearly ideal due to the river's natural features and the fact that the river's fish migrations are dominated by a single species. In its history as one of ADF&G's longest-running sonar sites, the Kasilof River sonar site project has also been one of ADF&G's most straightforward.

Information collected at the Kasilof River sonar site is used to produce abundance estimates for sockeye salmon and draws strong interest from personal use and commercial fishermen. Situated in a publicly accessible location just upstream of a Sterling Highway bridge on the Kenai Peninsula, sonar site crew members frequently answer questions from visiting fishermen interested in the site's counts and operations.