It isn't really profitable. The meat isn't really in demand and they harvest far fewer than the limit that's set by the government. This interview with a wailer from freakenomics was interesting and touched on a lot of these issues.

Here is the freakanomics episode

as a sort of expert on commercial fishing/fisheries management and economics, absolutely not especially to the degree where it is worth the backlash this is getting. This strikes me as an incredibly dumb decision from a pr standpoint at the very least, and it's the sort of thing that could lead to ramifications for the actually important parts of the Icelandic seafood industry if any countries decide to restrict seafood imports over the whaling (which has happened before in other circumstances)

I could be wrong, but I thought the only reason Japanese whaling wasn't profitable is that it's for "research" so it can't be for profit, and also all the physical harassment from "eco terrorist" groups.

I'm currently reading Moby Dick and that book goes over the entire process of harvesting a whale. Even then they started it wasn't necessarily profitable but the versatility of the whale s resources were went they are harvested. I also heard the meat sucks.