Food on ships was never plentiful nor good, and whaling ships were no exception. Crewmembers aboard whaling ships were often subject to poor provisions; such was the reality of marine life. In spite of the lack of fresh meat (or anything, really), American whalers did not, in general, regard whale meat as "food". Whale meat was regarded as uncivilized and improper for consumption, though many crewmembers did try it and remark about its taste in their journals. However, it was associated with the so-called uncivilized or barbaric nature of the peoples whalers encountered who ate the meat. Not wanting to associate themselves with those people, they refused to eat it as well.

Sources:

Eric Jay Dolin, Leviathan: The History of Whaling in America

Nancy Shoemaker, Whale Meat in American History. Environmental History 10 (April 2005), p. 269

Edit: fix date on source, remove overreaching generalization

Yerich's answer is a good one, and Nancy Shoemaker's article on the subject is by far the best, really the only but fortunately it is a great article. But I would like to add a couple points.

First, while Americans didn't eat whale meat because of a culture taboo, much the way most Americans don't eat dog or horse today but some cultures do, there was also a practical reason for this. After a whale was caught the immediate activity for a whaleship was to strip the blubber off of the whale, cut it up into small pieces and then render those pieces of blubber into oil by cooking it down in large try pots. This was a long and difficult process,that depending upon the size of the whale could take 24-48 hours typically. And, much of 19th century American whaling, the period of most American whaling and the period most people talk about, took place in warm climates such as the South Pacific and Indian ocean. After 24-48 hours of rotting in those climate the whalemeat wasn't very appetizing or edible. Furthermore, sharks would have been likely biting away at the carcass of the whale chewing it and making it inedible.

My second point is that whalemen did occasionally eat whalemeat, but it was more the exception than the rule. While most American whaling took place in the 19th century and most historical research has study that period, my own dissertation is on 18th century whaling. In the earlier period I have found more frequent mentions to eating whalemeat. In particular, the journal of Peleg Folger from the 1750s makes occasional mention of eating whalemeat, and James Colnett, a British naval captain who sailed into the Pacific in the 1790s to explore ports for whalemen and to otherwise open up the whaling trade for British whalemen wrote “One [sperm whale] was a small one, measuring 15 feet, which we hoisted on board, and of which I made a drawing; its heart was cooked in a sea-pye, and afforded an excellent meal” p. 80.

Also, Herman Melville's Moby-Dick, which is a great history of whaling as well as an entertaining read(Melville was a whalemen and did extensive research too) the character Stubb eats a whale steak. While it is clear from Melville's writing that this was a strange and remarkable thing it does remind us that it still happened occasionally.

Source- My PhD dissertation (in progress), other source mentioned in my piece. Unfortunately there is no good, comprehensive history of whaling written in the last 50 years. Margret Creighton's Rites and Passages isn't an overview of whaling, but it a great book about the social interactions of whalemen.

If you are coming to this thread to answer, please bear in mind our standards for answers. Any post which does not meet these standards will be deleted--including references to articles you just found by Googling, your "logical deductions", and attempts to found an argument solely on Moby Dick. Thank you.

I can tell you that by the time they got to the Pacific (the destination of most whalers in the 1800's), whaling vessels would generally stop at an island and load up on tortises. The tortises were considered delicious, they would keep alive a long time, and they had a lot of meat. They cooked easily in their own shells. Sailors greatly preferred tortises to whale meat, and by the time they got to the whales, they would generally have no need to eat the blubbery, oily whale meat, which they did not consider to be so tasty.

Source: My recollection of "In the Heart of the Sea" and other books about whaling.

Out of curiosity, and I'm sorry if I'm going against the rules here, but what book are you reading, who's the author, and would you recommend it so far? I've been looking for a book about the disaster for a while