KINGSTON, Jamaica — Nearly eight months after Hurricane Melissa swept across Jamaica causing widespread ecological damage, the island’s top natural resources oversight body has given preliminary approval to a tightly limited 2026 bird shooting season, balancing the needs of local shooting industry stakeholders against post-storm environmental recovery. The National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA), which serves as the administrative body for the Natural Resources Conservation Authority (NRCA), announced the preliminary decision reached during the NRCA’s April 21, 2026 governing meeting. According to NEPA, the in-principle approval was crafted to address two competing priorities: enabling businesses in the bird shooting sector to complete critical early preparation work, while accounting for the lasting ecological disruption left by Hurricane Melissa, which made landfall on the island in October 2025. To align with ongoing ecosystem recovery efforts, the 2026 season will come with significant new constraints, including geographically restricted hunting zones and a lowered overall cap on permitted shooting activities, NEPA confirmed. The current advisory, agency officials emphasized, is intended exclusively to support forward planning for sector operators, such as securing necessary supplies and adjusting operational logistics well in advance of the planned opening. Final, formal details of the season’s structure, rules, and boundaries will be published at a later date once all regulatory and environmental assessments are completed. Per current projections, the 2026 bird shooting season is scheduled to launch between mid- and late-August 2026, and conclude by the end of September 2026.