There has been a moratorium on the commercial take of all whales since 1982, binding on all members of the International Whaling Commission, including Japan, Iceland and Norway. Yet Iceland and Norway ignore the moratorium, taking a total of 897 Finn and Minke whales in 2014, and Japan has exercised a loophole in regulations which allows killing of Minke whales for "scientific purposes" while allowing commercial sale of whale meat taken (this year, 2016,  330 were "harvested"). 

Whales worldwide are facing an array of threats to their survival, ranging from reductions of their food stocks due to overfishing and global warming; noise pollution from shipping, oil exploration, and military exercises; collision with ships; entanglement and drowning by "ghost nets";  and ingestion of plastic debris found in the gyres of all major oceans resulting in strangulation, digestive impaction, and poisoning.  The take of whales for consumption or "scientific" purposes adds one more certain threat to their long term survival.

The loss of whale meat will have little effect on the dietary needs of the countries still taking whales.  What protein is lost can be easily replaced by other sources.  While whale hunting may have had a place in the days of sailing ships and "Nantucket sleigh-rides,"  technology has advanced so that it's no longer a "fair fight" between whales and humans.

In addition, human enlightenment and appreciation for the intelligence of whales have also evolved so that even if "sustainable harvests" were 100% possible, which they are not, the majority of citizens in developed countries are opposed to continued take for any purpose, commercial or scientific.