In 1994, abundances were estimated for chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha that returned to spawn in the Salcha and Chena rivers near Fairbanks, Alaska. Estimates of abundance were also made for chum salmon O. keta, however the time period that was sampled (5 July through 12 August) covered only a portion of the chum salmon escapement. A stratified systematic sampling design was used to count chinook and chum salmon during 20 min periods each hour as they passed beneath elevated counting structures on the Salcha and Chena rivers. Estimates of abundance for chinook and chum salmon in the Salcha River were 18,399 (SE = 549) and 39,450 (SE = 740), respectively. Estimates of abundance for chinook and chum salmon in the Chena River were 11,877 (SE = 479) and 9,984 (SE = 347), respectively. Chinook salmon carcasses were collected during early August from both rivers. Males comprised 53% of the sample in the Salcha River and 54% in the Chena River. Ages 1.3 and 1.4 comprised more than 90% of the fish sampled in both rivers. Estimated potential egg productions were the highest on record in both rivers. Estimates were 74.9 million eggs (SE = 5.4 million) in the Salcha River, and 48 million eggs (SE = 3.6 million) in the Chena River. The highest counts of chinook salmon during aerial surveys were 11,823 for the Salcha River and 1,570 for the Chena River populations. These aerial counts were 64% and 13% of the respective abundance estimates.