Analyzes the feasibility of measuring the consumption impact of a proposed project to develop and manage fish ponds in Panama. Interviews with villagers in three communities in the Veraguas region showed that: energy as well as protein is limited in the rural diet; protein intake is low in quantity and quality because of the predominance of tubers and bananas, the low intake of beans and meats, low complementarity of proteins in the diets, and low incomes; food consumption is seasonal; and finally, fish ponds can make a significant contribution to improved protein consumption if fish can be consumed frequently by all family members. Thus, the project can be expected to have a positive impact if, and only if, adequate amounts of fish are harvested weekly and distributed to every family. Four methodologies to assess the nutritional impact of the 30 demonstration ponds proposed under the project are evaluated: (1) using the individual household as its own control and determining fish pond impact by using paired tests of daily consumption; (2) using community-level data (with only one observation per household) to compare average intake by season before and after fish pond intervention; (3) modifying the first approach by confining the survey to a sample of the affected villages, interviewing a random sample of half the households in 40 household villages, including a measure of time since pond harvest, and adding village and co-op survey forms; and (4) (the preferred option) modifying the third approach by including all villages in order to provide a large enough sample to extrapolate from the survey findings to other possible fish pond projects.