Crabs of the British Isles (29,193 t), various swimming crabs (3,180 t), the spider crab "Maja squinado" (1,565 t), the shore crab or green crab "Carcinus maenas" (553 t) and the velvet crab "Necora puber" (193 t). Around 77% of the catch is landed in the United Kingdom, 19% in Ireland, 4% in the Channel Islands, and 1% in the Isle of Man. 62 species have been directly observed in the waters of the British Isles: Three deep-water species have also been recorded near the British Isles, and are likely to occur in the area. These are: Crabs of the British Isles Around 65 species
Terminology of the British Isles excludes the Republic of Ireland. In October 2006, "The Times" quoted a spokesman for the Irish Embassy in London as saying that they would discourage its use. During a stop-over visit to the Republic of Ireland in 1989, the leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, indicated that he assumed Ireland's head of state was Queen Elizabeth II, given that she was the British Queen and his officials said that Ireland was a part of the British Isles. In Northern Ireland, some nationalists reject the term and instead use "these islands", "these isles" or "Britain and Ireland" as an alternative.