The total inriver return of early-run (May and June) chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha as estimated through hydroacoustic techniques was 23,505 (SE = 376) fish. Angler effort and harvest as estimated by a creel survey during the early chinook salmon run in the downstream section (Cook Inlet to the Soldotna Bridge) were 130,180 (SE = 3,914) angler hours and 4,166 (SE = 290) chinook salmon, respectively. When expanded to account for the unsurveyed portion of the fishery, total estimated effort and harvest were 185,921 angler-hours and 5,966 (SE = 442) fish, respectively; approximately equal to the 1974-1995 mean. Estimated release mortality was 241 (SE = 136) fish. Spawning escapement, estimated by subtracting total fishing mortality from total inriver return, was 17,298 (SE = 596) fish. This escapement was nearly double that stipulated by the Kenai River Early King Salmon Management Plan. The predominant age class of both the inriver return and the recreational harvest of early-run chinook salmon was age-1.4 fish. Migratory timing models were used to project spawning escapement during the 1996 fishery. No restrictions to the recreational fishery were required to achieve the escapement. A model based on sibling ratios was used to forecast the 1997 return at 31,622 (SE = 9,324) chinook salmon.