The fish wheel is basically a mechanical dip net powered by the river current. When floated on the river, the current turns the baskets like a paddle wheel. Salmon, moving upstream, swim into the baskets and get swept out of the river. When out of the water, the basket's tilted bottom channels the fish out of an opening and into a hopper on board the float.

This panorama was made the day before salmon season opened for the fishwheels. Normally these devices would not be sitting idle as people would be working on them to get them ready for opening day. However, the wind was so fierce on this morning that it picked up and flung glacial rock dust and sand from the valley floor making productive work impossible.

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.