Chena River Chinook Salmon Study

Like many Fairbanksians, we biologists on the Chena Chinook project use the river for a lot more than just work.  It’s also our backyard playground for camping, hiking, fishing, hunting, and photography.  I took these pictures of the Chena during some time off time on April 30th, when I drove up to hike and see how break-up was coming.  “Break-up” is Alaskan for “actual spring,” the time of year — well after the official first day of spring — when the meter of ice covering our rivers breaks up and floats down toward the Bering Sea, and snow that fell in September finally disappears.

We spent the long Fairbanks winter analyzing last year’s data and preparing results for several scientific conferences.  Most of us are beginning field work this week or next, so in recent weeks we’ve been purchasing, preparing, and organizing equipment at an ever-more-frantic pace.  In this picture, finishing touches are applied to a video calibration box that will help measure fish to millimeter-scale accuracy without even touching them.

Just like last year, Chena River users will notice mysterious contraptions up and down the river, collecting data for this project.  We’ll try to use this website to provide you with explanations of our more visible gadgets and the science they’re supporting.