Founded in 1978, the Norwalk Seaport Association is now lower Fairfield County’s most active nonprofit organization devoted to maritime preservation, education and to the area’s seafaring heritage.

The Norwalk Seaport Association stages the famous Norwalk Oyster Festival each year, maintains Sheffield Island and the Sheffield Island Lighthouse as a museum and nature preserve, conducts tours of scenic Norwalk Harbor and the Norwalk Islands on its 49 passenger Coast Guard Certified ferry. Norwalk Seaport children’s school programs include field trips, birthday parties and summer camp. Storytelling and sea lore; critical and creative thinking skills; brainstorming techniques; creative arts projects; simple science and music.

Sheffield Island Lighthouse and nature trail museum and nature preserve are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Visitors can board the Seaport ferry at the Association’s dock, between the Maritime Aquarium’s IMAX Theater and the Norwalk River Bridge, for their trip to the island, the lighthouse or harbor cruises. Norwalk Seaport Association's Oyster Festival was created in 1978 as the major fund-raising event for the revitalization of the Norwalk harbor area.