Fish Wheels

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A fish wheel is a device for catching fish which operates much as a water-powered mill wheel. A wheel complete with baskets and paddles is attached to a floating dock. The wheel rotates due to the current of the stream it is placed into. The baskets on the wheel capture fish traveling upstream. The fish caught in the baskets fall into a holding tank. When the holding tank is full, the fish are removed.

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Photos

Fish Wheels on Copper River near Chitna
In Alaska, fish wheels are only allowed on the Copper River near Chitina, AK and also along the Yukon River. All of the photos in this blog were taken on the Copper River. Mt. Blackburn is in the background.

Subsistence Fishing
This is a subsistence fishery and very strict rules apply as to which Alaskans can participate and how many salmon they can harvest. Fish caught are "for personal consumption, and for customary trade, barter, or sharing" as stated in the regulations. Alaska law prohibits the selling or buying of subsistence-taken fish, any of their parts or their eggs. Don and I could fish for salmon in other locations, but because we are not an Alaska Resident we could not fish here.

Fish Wheel
Primarily salmon are caught with fish wheels. A fish wheel may be owned by more than one person. When not in operation, the wheel is lifted out of the water. All salmon caught using a fish wheel must be reported to the Alaska Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and must be prepared due to state fishing guidelines.

Fishing Wheels catching red (sockeye) salmon
The type of salmon caught varies with the time of year because not all salmon migrate and spawn at the same time.

Older Fishing Wheel
Along the Copper River we could see all sorts of older fishing wheels made from wood. Using the wooden fishing wheel is an ancient Indian tradition in Alaska. This photo was taken at the Wrangell-Ellias National Park Visitor's Center.