The restoration of depleted wild salmon stocks in the Northwestern U.S. could be advanced with the re-introduction of in-river fixed gear techniques such as fishwheels, which offer substantial economic, biological, and stock assessment advantages. A dynamic simulation model is used to demonstrate that fishwheels could reduce costs and increase net economic benefits to commercial fishers by a factor of five. Additional simulations indicates that the potentially adverse income and employment consequences that often accompany policy or technological changes can be avoided with appropriate institutions and sequenced policy implementation. The analysis confirms the feasibility of a transition path to more sustainable salmon management that protects and improves the economic interests of current commercial fishers while at the same time restoring wild salmon stocks.